Going back to school

 

Finally, a sunny day! We've basically been checking the weather forecast every 5 minutes now to see if the rain will ever stop, and the promise of a sunny day gave us very little time to see everything. We wanted to do a cruise up the Douro River, to see the vistas and terraced vineyards along the way, but this being the off season, those particular tours are only available on weekends. Of course, we didn't know this, so Mario and I skipped breakfast at the hostel to make a mad dash down to the waterfront, hoping to book a place before the day's departure. The tourism office being locked told us that we had gotten our hopes up for nothing. We consoled ourselves with coffee and chocolatey pastries next door.
We then opted to climb the breakneck stairs up the valley wall to the top of the Dom Luis I bridge, to see the sun bathing the city in its golden light - for once. The views of Porto and, across the river, Villa Nova de Gaia, were magnificent and colorful and lively and way better than I could've expected. My camera was happy to get more than grayscale shots.
On top of the bridge is located a crossing for pedestrians and trains ONLY and so it go us thinking that this beautiful, sunny day might be the perfect day for a train ride, to travel south to the town of Coimbra, where the country's oldest university is located. Off to the station we skipped, purchased a pair of return tickets, and soon we were on our way down the tracks!
We arrived in Coimbra and lo and behold, the sun was STILL shining! The river glimmered across from the town where we began our steady hike uphill. You see, Coimbra and its university were built on a hill, within fortifications, to protect it from invasion. It was an easier location to protect, but this makes it a harder location to access, particularly by pedestrian tourists, like ourselves. Lots of steep hills, lots of stairs to climb - and we all know my thoughts on stairs...Yes, well. Not impressed. It was slow-going, with lots of photo breaks, let me tell you. In the end, we did make it to the top. Then we went back down for a quick lunch!
Back in the university square, we headed for a visit of the old library. Only a certain number of people are let in at a time, as the tomes inside, and library itself, are so old that too much humidity will cause them to age too quickly, and humans are humid little beings. It was magnificent, see all those incredibly old books, caged up on ornately carved wooden shelves on two different levels, accessible by recessed ladders and hidden stairs. The three rooms have fantastic trompe d'oeil painted ceilings with university-base themes, and are painted in matching colors of green, black and red to go with the chinoiserie tapestries hung from the balconies. What a majestic place to study! And imagine that one can still come study in this magnificent library! You have to prove a very good reason to need to reference the volumes available, and can browse them only under VERY strict conditions. Onwards!
We crossed the square to the main administrative building, home of the hall of scholars, where we would normally have been able to visit, except for the fact that someone was defending his thesis in order to obtain his Ph.D. It must have looked funny, from his point of view, all the camera-faced tourists peering through the upper windows, snapping shots of him from above, like paparazzi. Following the same upper halls, we emerged to a quiet walkway on a rooftop, behind the building, overlooking the back of the university and the sun-bathed hill below us. Here, we snapped a bunch of pictures like paparazzi.
We wasted a lot of the day just wandering all the narrow laneways surrounding the university, trying not to get lost, discovering Republicas, the Portuguese version of frat houses. Eventually, we found ourselves back at the bottom of the hill, sitting at a cafe, soaking up the last lingering rays of warmth while we tucked into good coffee and creamy custard tarts, Pasteis de Nata. Not long after, we boarded the train, content with the satisfying day in the sun, and looking forward to the new adventures tomorrow would bring, even if it did bring a little rain along for the ride.