1 February 2023

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Lisbon to Coimbra 

    I left Ponta Delgada a little after dawn and arrived in Lisbon before noon. My uncle Paulo’s cousin, Rui, picked me up from the airport and brought me to his family’s restaurant, where I ate generous portions of traditional Portuguese dishes. Afterwards, Rui’s brother, João, drove me to the train station. Though I kept dozing off on the train––I had been travelling for about seventeen hours by this point––I managed to see a fair amount of the interior countryside and a few scenic towns along the route. 

    Around sunset, I finally arrived in Coimbra. The first things I noticed were the cobbled streets and the hills. It looked charming, but I had no time for admiration: I was exhausted, it was getting dark, and my phone was almost dead. Following the directions to my apartment, I walked for about fifteen minutes with a full backpack and a heavy suitcase until I came to the foot of a winding hill. After an arduous climb that lasted another fifteen minutes (including a few breaks), I reached the top and found my apartment, where I spent the rest of the evening settling in. 

Lisboa a Coimbra

    Saí de Ponta Delgada um pouco depois do amanhecer e cheguei em Lisboa antes do meia dia. O primo do meu tio Paulo, o Rui, levou-me do aeroporto e trouxe-me à restaurante da sua família, onde comi pratos tradicionais Portugueses. Depois, o irmão do Rui, o João, trouxe-me à estação de comboio. Embora eu continuasse a adormecer––eu estivera a viajar por dezessete horas neste ponto––eu consegui ver algum do país interior e algumas cidades bonitas ao longo da rota. 

    Por volta de pôr do sol, eu finalmente cheguei em Coimbra. As primeiras coisas que notei foram as calçadas e as colinas. Parecia bonita, mas eu não tive tempo para admirá-lo: estava cansado, o céu estava escurecer, e o meu fone estava quase sem bateria. A seguir as direções ao meu apartamento, eu andei por cerca de quinze minutos com uma mochila cheia e bagagem pesada, até que cheguei a pé duma colina sinuosa. Depois de uma subida difícil que durou mais quinze minutos (incluindo alguns descansos), eu cheguei à cimeira da colina e descobri o meu apartamento, onde eu passei a noite a descansar. 

Pictures

Bacalhau and cozida à Portuguesa

João, Rui, and me

Interior countryside

Interior countryside

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