Half way to Lisbon

We hadn't booked anywhere for the night after the Douro, so mum found us a place in Coimbra, the first capital of Portugal and the oldest university.  The university library was interesting - bats live there to eat the moths that would eat the books.  Several levels below is the academic prison.  This sounded like a brilliant idea until I read that it was to keep the inmates away from the hoi-polloi of regular prisons.

The highlights of Coimbra were (a) Cais Morais where we stayed with Rosa and Palmyra.  They welcomed us with orange juice and farewelled us with a little bottle of homemade alcohol.  (b) Rui dos Leitoes where we had frisante, a slightly sparkling wine.  The meal was nice, the waiter was excellent.

On our way to Lisbon, we stopped at the monastery of Batahla.  The unfinished chapels were a very pleasant surprise, the cathedral with its simplistic and towering columns was awe-inspiring particularly after all the overly ornate  baroque cathedrals we've seen.

There was also lots of coffee, croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice.