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Aveiro & Coimbra
We took an express train north to the city of Aveiro to meet with a colleague of Rich's, Carlos Fonseca, a biology professor at the University of Aveiro. The train was very comfortable and particularly exciting for Ian, who asked questions incessantly about how fast we were going, where we were, etc. Aveiro is a relatively new city near the coast, famous for salt production and for its canals -- some refer to Aveiro as "the Venice of Portugal". We had a quick visit to the Atlantic Ocean beaches -- very windy but beautiful -- and then headed Saturday afternoon to Coimbra, about 30 minutes inland from Aveira, where Carlos lives.
Coimbra was quite different from Aveiro -- very old (boasting the oldest university in Europe) and hilly, divided by a river. Ian particularly enjoyed our visit to a park that featured tiny replicas of the many different types of traditional houses from around Portugal as well as composite buildings of the many famous historic sites of Portugal (cathedrals, castles, etc.). Carlos and his girlfriend Constancia were very warm and hospitable, and introduced us to their good friends who lived at Gorongosa in the 1960s! Our young Portuguese language skills limited our ability to swap too many stories with Luis and his wife, but we made a good connection for the future. Carlos also drove us to the village of his family and to their family retreat in the country -- how we longed to stay at that idealic setting for longer! Old stone houses perched on the hill above a river with a small dam to divert water to power an old (and still functional) mill for grinding flour that created a small pond perfect for paddling in the resident kayaks. So peaceful... Must stay here during our next visit to Portugal!
We took an express train north to the city of Aveiro to meet with a colleague of Rich's, Carlos Fonseca, a biology professor at the University of Aveiro. The train was very comfortable and particularly exciting for Ian, who asked questions incessantly about how fast we were going, where we were, etc. Aveiro is a relatively new city near the coast, famous for salt production and for its canals -- some refer to Aveiro as "the Venice of Portugal". We had a quick visit to the Atlantic Ocean beaches -- very windy but beautiful -- and then headed Saturday afternoon to Coimbra, about 30 minutes inland from Aveira, where Carlos lives. 
Coimbra was quite different from Aveiro -- very old (boasting the oldest university in Europe) and hilly, divided by a river. Ian particularly enjoyed our visit to a park that featured tiny replicas of the many different types of traditional houses from around Portugal as well as composite buildings of the many famous historic sites of Portugal (cathedrals, castles, etc.). Carlos and his girlfriend Constancia were very warm and hospitable, and introduced us to their good friends who lived at Gorongosa in the 1960s! Our young Portuguese language skills limited our ability to swap too many stories with Luis and his wife, but we made a good connection for the future. Carlos also drove us to the village of his family and to their family retreat in the country -- how we longed to stay at that idealic setting for longer! Old stone houses perched on the hill above a river with a small dam to divert water to power an old (and still functional) mill for grinding flour that created a small pond perfect for paddling in the resident kayaks. So peaceful... Must stay here during our next visit to Portugal!
