From Quinte Verdi to Casa O Nascer do Sol

Friday, October 09, 2015
Coimbra, Viseu, Portugal
Another busy day...we were up early, had another superb breakfast with scrambled eggs,bacon, fried tomatoes, toast, muffins, brown bread, homemade jams...today we had cherry jelly with Pernod, Quince and apple, and pear and vanilla....very yummy. Sun was shining again and it is around 20.
We left and drove first to Tomar where we toured the Convent of Christ...belonged to the Knights Templars... Very impressive and huge.. We loved the large number of cloisters especially since it was sunny and bright.... The gardens were lovely as well and Walter loved exploring the various monk cells....from the novitiate a to the abbotts. The famous Manueline Window as interesting but so old and lichen encrusted it was hard to make out the detail..Spent time wandering around and loved the site! The Charola which is the oldest part built by the Knights Templar in 1356 had been restored in 2014 and was very impressive... The kitchen and backers area was interesting as well....it was built on so many times it was hard to keep track of all the dates..
Then on to Coimbra and after initially getting lost we walked up to the higher town and toured the Univiversity but we did not get a chance to see the library until after 4:40... The library entrance is limited to about 50 people at a time due to the heat and humidity variations. Hat crowds bring....also much to Wouters chagrin you were not allowed to take photos..The other parts of the old university were old and had lots of gold filigree, and the Great Hall was pretty cool...it has long wooden benches and Avery ornate ceiling. We had to wait for an hour so we asked one of the student volunteers at the Univ. gate who was wearing th characteristic black cape for a bar suggestion and she said told us to go to the Musea Muchado de Castro which had a lovely roof top bar where we had a beer....great people watching, great view!
The library was pretty impressive...over 60,000 books from before the 1800s..very rococo inside.
We then walked downhill and put the GPS into the car for the BnB Casa O Nascer do Sol ......first we had to fight the rush hour traffic in Coimbra which was crazy...lots of traffic but also a police caravan with blue lights flashing and the an ambulance that we had to go onto the median to let pass......crazy driving for sure.....then along some very impressive freeways and a very twisty mountain road to a tiny village : Vale de Carvalha which has only 14 people. Joke and Wim are the Belgium owners originally from Antwerp and have been running the BnB for 2 years now.. They have 5 rooms and have upgraded us because they have a 4 person team from Portugal TV staying as well tonight.
We then enjoyed a wonderful Table d'hote which Joke cooked- dinner included; a Rose Port as an aperitif, soup....a clear bouillon with pork and noodles, a pork tenderloin in sauce with mashed potatoes and a lemon mousse...also wonderful red wine the cost 15€ for 10 liters.....then lots of great conversation.....in bed by Midnight..
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2025-02-16

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