Tomar, Almourol, Fatima (11/10/2014)

This trip was organized by ESN and took us by bus to three different locations. After leaving Coimbra, early in the morning, we reached out first destination: Tomar. The town itself is famous for the beautiful and a Unesco World Heritage Site Convento de Cristo, or Convent of Christ, which was first built by the Templar order in the 12th century, and after the order's dissolution in the 14th century, became part of the newly formed Knights of the Order of Christ. The convent is surrounded by walls and there is a Keep guarding the entrance, built at the same time as the Templar church. After passing through the main gate, we waited outside in the garden while the Esn team was getting the tickets. As we went in, I was amazed to see the Romanesque part of the convent, the one built by the Templars, with its beautifully decorated and frescoed Rotunda, the only of its kind in Portugal, that took its shape from the churches in Jerusalem. The monastery was immense, and had a total of 8 cloisters, all from different periods and styles, my favorite was the Claustro de D. João III completed by the Italian architect Filippo Terzi, with beautiful arches and a wonderful fountain right in the middle. There was so much to see but we didn't have enough time so I tried seeing as much as I could, it was then time to get back on the bus and head to downtown Tomar. The city was very nice and had a beautiful Gothic church  right outside the centre, the Igreja de Santa Maria dos Olivais which was a resting place for the knights of the Templar order. Once we crossed the medieval bridge we reached the old town with the main square and the Igreja de São João Batista which is the main church of the town, built in the 15th century. However the really interesting monument, hidden among the old narrow streets of the town, was the Synagogue ;the oldest one in Portugal. We then got back on the bus and headed for our next destination: the Castle of Almourol. This interesting castle sits on a small high-rised island in the middle of the Tejo or Tagus river. It is contemporary to the Convent of Christ and also a possession of the Templar Order. It is quite small but has some great view of its surroundings and of the river itself. After visiting the castle we headed on to our last stop: Fatima. This place was very strange in my opinion, because from a really small village in the middle of nowhere grew an immense town full of hotels (nearly as many as in Lisbon) and other structures, after the 1917 apparition. Later on in the 1950s the Sanctuary was built and in 2006 with the completion of the other basilica on the opposite side of the immense square, the place now just looks so strange and empty to me. It is probably not so during the mass pilgrimage which fills the huge square in May, the 13th to be precise, which is the day the apparition came to the three kids in 1917. But still at all other times, there are just some sporadic pilgrims and other tourists that visit the place and it just seemed "cold'' to me. The day was at an end so we got back on the bust and left for Coimbra in time for dinner.

The Convento de Cristo

The Romanesque Rotunda built by the Templars

The Claustro de D. João III

The Igreja de Santa Maria dos Olivais

View of the Castle and Convent from Tomar

Tomar's Main Square

Portugal's oldest Synagogue

The Castle of Almourol

The Castle with the river Tejo

View from the walls

The Sanctuary of Fatima

Montemor-o-Velho (05/10/2014)

This time I decided to check out the beautiful castle I had always seen when travelling by train from Coimbra to Figueira, it is one of the best preserved in all of Portugal and also one of the largest, it first belonged to the Moors and was then captured by the christian forces in 848, while the keep and main walls date to the 12th and 13th century; the views from the walls are amazing, being the town surrounded by rice fields and the Mondego river flowing by. So I took and early train and about 40 minutes later I hopped off at Montemor-o-Velho train station. The station itself is just two train tracks with a road beside it, and it is located 4 kilometers south east of the town, so it took me about 40 minutes to reach by foot; i'm guessing there isn't even a bus that passes by. Once I reached the town, from below I could see the immensity of the hilltop castle, so walking from the main square where the Camara Municipal, or Town Hall, was located I took an elevator, yes there was an open air elevator to get to nearly the top of the hill (probably for the many old people living here) and headed for the main gate of the castle. Once inside, through the Porta da Peste, or Plague Gate, so called because as a legend mentions, two chests were buried under the castle one containing gold and the other containing the plague (meaning wealth or misery and death), I walked along the walls until I reached the ruins of the Capela de Santo Antonio and the Clock Tower, I then headed for the highest point of the hill, where the Igreja de Santa Maria da Alcáçova stands, from the 11th century but remodeled in the 16th century with some manueline styled additions. I passed by the ruins of the Palacio das Infantas, or the Palace when the castle was inhabited by kings and queens and didn't serve its military role anymore, and reached the Keep, the highest point of the walls, and from there I could have a beautiful view of the whole castle walls and the fields surrounding the town. At the centre of the castle stood the small tourist info point, where I asked for some info to an old man who wondered if I was Portuguese, I told him I was italian and he was surprised by fluency and gave me a pamphlet about the castle. Taking a few more pics I decided to go out through the southern gate or Porta da Nossa Senhora do Rosario, I descended into town and then walked out in the countryside to admire the castle's western walls. The view was incredible and well worth the detour. It was then time to go and as I had previously decided, I walked the 24km to Coimbra in about 4 hours and half totalling nearly 30km with the train station walk and touring around the castle.

View of the castle coming from the train station

View of the surrounding fields from the walls

The Castle Keep

View from the Keep with the Santa Maria da Alcáçova church

The Porta da Nossa Senhora do Rosario or Southern gate

Beautiful view of the walls from the western fields

Algarve Trip with Esn (26-27-28/09/14)

The Meia Praia

The trip was organized by Esn and for three days we were heading down to Algarve to the town of Lagos with two full buses of erasmus students We left Coimbra around 6 am and after a 6 hour bus drive, stopping occasionally for coffee an toilet breaks, we eventually arrived in Lagos at noon. Right before reaching the town, we made a quick stop to gather food and stuff for the lunches and dinners that weren't included in the trip's price. Once we reached our hotel, Clube Marina Park (which had some really nice apartments), we were divided into groups of or own choice; so I was going to stay with my friends Simona, Jurgis, Michal, Gabriela, Sebastiano, Jordana and Lorenza. After having unpacked and chosen our beds, we were set and ready to head to the beach. We reached the beach called Meia Praia, or Half Beach, though unlike the name suggests it is very big.

A street in Lagos

The sun was out and the water looked very nice and calm. After a quick refreshing swim, the water was quite chilly but not as cold as in Northern Portugal, we sunbathed for a while and then walked along the surf till the end of the beach, where the small port was located. It was then time to head back home and start cooking. We made an easy pasta with tomato sauce which everyone enjoyed and then we were ready to leave for the party in the town of Portimão. The party was set on a beach bar and was really great, we came back home at 4 

am and the next morning we were up at 8 am and ready to head to the city centre and then the beach.

The Praia do Camilo

We passed through the main gate that was once the main gate of the castle, and headed to see the Igreja de Santo Antonio, a very nice baroque church with a beautiful interior gilded woodcarving, and also inside is located the municipal museum with various roman sculptures and medieval azulejos. 

Then we saw the Igreja Paroquial, or the main church of the town, baroque too and quite unappealing inside, and right across the square we saw the Mercado de Escravos or Slave Market, deemed to be the oldest in Europe, built in 1444. After walking through the old town streets, we started heading towards the beach. 

The Praia Dona Ana full of Erasmus

We passed by the Praia da Dona Ana, a really nice beach, the type of beach would come up to mind when thinking about the Algarve. We took several pics and walked along the top of the cliff with awesome views of the ocean and rocks jutting out of the water. We then reached Ponta da Piedade or Mercy Point, with beautiful natural rock arches and wonderful waters. 

However there wasn't an actual beach to be able to lay down at, so we decided to turn back a little and reached the Praia do Camilo, a small and quite secluded beach where we cliff dived, swam and sunbathed for a while. 

The group

We then headed back towards the town and stopped at Praia da Dona Ana again, where eventually, after having woken up, all the other erasmus went to. We hanged there for a while and then headed home to take a shower before dinner. The dinner took place at the port, and the restaurant was filled with just us erasmus students, dishes were great and we had beerand wine all night long, the waiters continued to bring us beer and after a while we had too much. 

Sagres lighthouse and beer bootle

After dinner, there was going to be a party, but we were too tired from the few hours of sleep the night before, so we just opted to head home and chill with the leftover beer. The morning after we had to wait for every apartment to be ready so in the meantime we went to relax at the pool. Then around lunchtime we left and headed for Sagres, the south westernmost point in Europe, the view and cliffs there were amazing and the ocean did seem infinite from that point. After a quick walk around it was then time to go and we got back in the bus and left for Coimbra

The Cape St. Vincent