After an overnight flight to Munich, there was a delay on my connection to Lisbon (1) (2) so I missed the 2:00 train to Porto. I therefore caught a later train and decided to stop at Coimbra for the night. The tracks follow the broad, flat Tagus River valley before reaching more hilly terrain.
Occupying one of these hills is Coimbra, the Portuguese Capital from the 12th to 14th centuries, and home to the oldest university in Portugal. I walked along the Mondego River from Coimbra-B station (3) to the city center. The town seemed very quiet; I'm guessing the University students had some time off.
I emailed a group that offers walking tours of the city "every night of the year," except (apparently) tonight (4). Anyway, I had a nice stroll up and down the hill, with frequent views of the river and a great meal (5).
(1) The airline had to check every passenger's Portuguese Covid form before boarding the plane in Munich. The process was utter chaos (even though they have been required to do this for months), so our flight was late arriving at Lisbon.
(2) I chatted with a family on the Lisbon flight who had flown to Munich from San Francisco and was meeting their grandmother (from Boston) in Lisbon (who was on Swiss Air). "What are we doing today in Portugal" the son asked. "Just staying awake until 9:00. Don't fall asleep until then or you'll get jet lag," the mother replied; they were experienced travelers.
(3) Coimbra B is on the main line from Lisbon to Porto, and is about a mile from main Coimbra station, which is at the end of a spur line. I could have waited 35 minutes (a) for a train down the (1 mile) spur line, but it was quicker to walk than wait (and I had been cooped up in a plane overnight, so it felt good to stretch my legs).
(a) Perhaps it was because I was there on a weekend, but they seemed to time the trains to and from Coimbra B to require about a 1/2 hour wait when connecting to or from trains on the mainline.
(4) It was also a drab day with low cloud cover, rain &c. so I was probably the only person who wanted the tour.
(5) Sitting across from me was a couple on their first trip together (Portugal for a long weekend). He was from Germany, she was not. (They spoke English to each other, of course).
The short Metro ride from airport to the train station featured cork seats. (Portugal is a major producer of cork.)
The Intercity Express at Coimbra-B
"The bombs don't stop, the refugees don't stop. Please don't stop contributing" Sign at Coimbra referencing the Ukrainian war
View of the Mondego River
Archways in Coimbra
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