Porto and Coimbra

2005-03-12 @16-42-42 DSCN
Originally uploaded by joseborregana.

Spent a night and a day in Coimbra -- it is Portugal´s answer to Salamanca -- a univeristy town, but it just didnt have the same vibe and was so-so. The university was neat to look at and my hostel was only 5euro...otherwise, just an ok town to wander around and then be off to...

Porto! for 2 nights and a day..This is portugal´s second largest city and maybe some comparisons could be drawn to chicago(which I guess isn´t the second city any more)...it is a bit more reserved and seems harder working, not as funky as lisbon, but still a good city vibe. It has more of a look of prague or paris(not sure what kind of architecture that is, but not the typical portugal image) and it´s pretty dirty (not like Chicago!) and the buildings have all turned grey...oh, and there´s lots of port. That´s basically what I did was go to port lodges and try port...which I quite enjoy...just wish i had brought some chocolate with me to the tastings!

I still have no pictures for you, and today I didn´t have a battery to take pictures, but that´s ok, other than this view you see above (why do they build these cities right on top of big hills...i think my dumpy hotel is at the top of all of this!) there wasn´t much more to take pictures of...except for the vats and casks of port!

Tomorrow, I think I am heading back to Spain -- Portugal has been lovely, very nice places, very nice people, I haven´t found that much fabulous food, but been staying pretty budget. There are also a gazillion dogs which makes me happy! There are beautiful tiles everywhere, cute men(they all seem to have very young faces, like you want to pinch their cheeks, until you realize that they aren´t 12 but 20), and the dress is more relaxed than Spain -- no high heels for the ladies...they would fall into all the mosaic sidewalks!! I´m sad to leave without find my stereotypical fishing village, I´ll have to come back with a car -- I´d also love to explore the interior more and, well, doesn´t every trip just add 1000 more places to visit to your list!