The day after enjoying an amazing dinner in Lisbon, we picked up our rental car and headed to Coimbra. We were both a little nervous about driving in the city, but we got on the road without too much trouble. That is, not too much trouble once we made it through a confusing slew of rotundas. I navigated while David drove, but I have to admit that several times he asked, “This way?”and I responded with a frustrated, “I have no idea!” This may have given him some misgivings about me navigating throughout the entirety of our trip, but later I showed him the screenshot below and we both laughed. At one point, I wondered if the GPS was just messing with me, but, nope. That really was the way to get where we were going.
I was excited to finally see Coimbra, as all of my pre-trip planning and research led me to think that it might be high on the list of our retirement location contenders. A university town with an active ex-pat population seemed like it could be just the place. Of course, it is really hard to get a true picture without visiting. We arrived in Coimbra an hour or so before check-in time at our VRBO home. David decided to call the owner and let him know we were there, and Eduardo welcomed us right away. I’ve mentioned how friendly everyone seemed to be since we arrived in Portugal, and Eduardo was no exception. Once he knew that it was our first visit, he gave us a map of the area and took the time to point out some of the things we might want to see. He then led us upstairs to our studio. I fell in love with it at once. Clean, efficient, and charming, the studio was a lovely place to end up after our drive. Eduardo had left us some fresh fruit, snacks, and even homemade pumpkin marmalade. Yummy! He also let us know that fresh bread would be in a bag on our front door every morning. We very much appreciated his kindness and hospitality.
It had been raining when we arrived, but the next morning the sky was just partly cloudy. We took advantage of it and went to the botanical gardens. It was peaceful and relaxing, until we accidentally went into the wrong area and were chased out by an indignant gardener. We felt bad and that’s when I realized I needed to learn how to say I’m sorry in Portuguese. (In case you’re curious, I think it would have been appropriate to say, “desculpa” in this situation.) After this minor incident (such bad kids), we enjoyed the rest of the gardens, making sure to stay where we should.
Following our garden adventure, we walked around the University’s buildings, admiring the architecture and taking in a statue of Dinis, the 6th King of Portugal, who’s varied accomplishments included founding the first university in Portugal. This was another moment when I found that I do actually have some interest in history, something that, I’m chagrined to admit, that I have not had in the past. To stand in these places, though, it seems almost impossible to not be interested. I find it difficult to get my brain around how long ago some of this history occurred, but at the same time, I’m struck by the commonality of the human experience.
I was quite curious about the Chemistry Museum and we made our way to buy a ticket for a tour. I ended up buying combined tickets for guided tours of the Library and a self-guided tour of the Chemistry Museum. We had a little time before the Library tour started, so we grabbed espressos at a cafe in the square. Unfortunately, we got a little turned around and missed the tour time and by then the Chemistry Museum was closing for a couple hours. We decided to return the next morning before starting the next leg of our journey. We had plans for the evening, but still had enough time to do a little more exploring, finding some views along the way that pretty much demanded our attention.
We were really excited about our evening plans. We had tickets to a live Fado show. When the time came, we walked in some gentle drizzle through a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, some of which were under some construction, making it even more of an adventure. It was a bit of a walk, but we made it in time and I’m so glad that we did. Fado is a traditional music in Portugal and we learned about the Coimbra variety that night. Apparently, male university students would learn or write songs to sing to the female students that they were romantically interested in. They would play outside the young woman’s window and, if she felt the same, she would blink her light 3 times. Townspeople might stand around and listen, but to show appreciation of the music without ruining the mood, they would repeatedly clear their throats at the end of a song, rather than clap. That night, we got to hear some engaging music. With one musician playing the Portuguese guitar, accompanied by another on a standard guitar, and sometimes one, sometimes two singers, the room was filled with rich and delightful music that we both thoroughly enjoyed.
When the music ended, we walked back up the hill though now pouring rain and made our way to a warm and inviting restaurant where we had a delicious dinner, with a couple glasses of wine for me. It was an evening I will never forget. The combination of the music, the walk in the rain, and the delicious food made for a once in a lifetime experience that touched my heart. Coimbra, I thought, rightfully deserves a place high on the list of possible retirement locals.
We never did make it back to the Chemistry Museum, unfortunately. Rather than being disappointed, I decided that was yet another reason to go back someday. Even with such a quick visit, I was falling in love with Coimbra. I loved the architecture (the aqueduct is super cool), the friendly people, and the culture. I was a little intimidated by the traffic we encountered when trying to find a bank in the city center, but I reminded myself that I feel much the same when I am in cities in the U.S. There is another layer of discomfort in a new location, it’s true. I think, though, that is largely due to not knowing what to expect and not having a firm grasp (or much of a grasp at all) of the rules of the road. Problems that have obvious solutions.
After finding a bank in a less busy part of the city, we were on our way to our next stop, Porto!
The Wandering Suz 