Coimbra, Portugal

Caught the bus from Régua to Lamego. It was a very scenic drive, through tiny little streets barely able to fit the bus. At Lamego we changed buses for Viseu, which turned put to be the same bus (except we couldn't buy the ticket to Viseu in Régua).

There was an hour wait in Lamego, which gave me enough time to go into town and take a picture of the 600+ steps up to Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios.

We arrived in Viseu with just enough time to get to our hotel (Pensão Rossio Parque) and catch lunch at 2pm. We got the prime room, with a balcony overlooking the plaza.

We walked arond Viseu after lunch. It was pretty hot (30C), plus we were getting tired of nice medieval old towns and cobblestone street, so didn't spend too much time touristing.

My backpack had the stitching come undone at the straps, and we had seen a repair shop, so I unpacked all my stuff and took it over. It cost €4 and they had it ready for the next morning.

Heather was feeling a bit off so we found a simple little place for dinner. They did have a couple things I was looking to try: pig's ear appetizers (pickled, tasted okay but the texture was an acquired taste), and roasted kid (a bit of an effort to eat, sort of like rabbit, except goat taste). The house red was fr the Dão, and was excellent.

The next morning picked up my repaired backpack, and took an express bus to Coimbra. It's a pretty big city (just over 100K). We stayed at Casa Pombal Guesthouse. We were lucky to get in -- it's been fully booked this month, no doubt because it's the place of choice in both the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. This is the first time this trip we've found a fully booked hotel. Our room is in the attic, with a beautiful view in three directions. Unfornately it's books tomorrow so we have to move to a room with two single beds. The hotel is in th old city, which meant a lot of walking up to get to it.

Walked a bit around the old city this afternoon. It was really hot again, so stayed to inside things -- the old library (Biblioteca Joanina, which was well worth the €5 admission), the old cathedral (Sé Velha), and Igreja de Santa Cruz. We've noticed a lot more bus tour people here than in other places. Cooled down with a beer in Largo da Portagem.

Tomorrow we're planning a day trip to Mata Nacional do Buçaco, a national forest. Well we're off for dinner now.