Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
Ardennes are super fun to visit. They are cold but there is loads of trails to discover. Hence, after so many locations, Rochefort was on the route as well. Its ancient position at the crossroads where the route to Saint-Hubert crossed that from Liège to Bouillon required fortifying: the ruins of the old castle, which gave the place its name and…
Once upon a time, there was a little Ivana in Cuba trying to explain a poor restaurant holder that the pizza ragusa he is having on the menu is not some Italian name for some Italian city, but the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Stupid girl. Ragusa is a city on the southern side of the…
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains of the Vecchia Tonnara at the wharf are a stone backdrop to the sandy beaches. Avola dates back to a pre-Greek people called the Sicani.…
Located about 11 kilometres north of Catania, it is the perfect little commune to visit during the ottobrata – the local festivity that occurs every October here in Sicily, celebrating the fruits of the land: frutti di terra. The first encounter went wrong already 🙂 Approaching the booth with fruit, I have noticed quince – one…
If something is worth visiting in life, it is the Aeolian islands. Becasue it makes you think about winter in the south. It makes you think about simplicity of life. And it makes you realise how not to treat the tourists: just some bags of potatoes that need to be shipped from one island to…
I haven’t had a chance to spent a bit more time discovering this city. But just a glimpse and it made me think to re-visit and make it’s due. When the time will come, I promise to update with more photos. But for now, enjoy the story 🙂 Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left…
I didn’t expect much from this harbour city, to be honest. I knew they have a great beer – Messina cristali di sale: a great Sicilian beer brewed since 1923 and one of the most loved Italian beers. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy.…
Senlis is a city in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. Cute, medieval and charming. It offered us great peek into history: The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. Senlis is situated on the river Nonette. Senlis was known in early Roman imperial times as Augustomagus. During the 3rd century, a seven-meter…
After 5 years, I was again in Portugal. Lisbon has been checked and explored quite well, so I decided to explore a bit more! I had a hotel in Oeiras […]
After 5 years, I was again in Portugal. Lisbon has been checked and explored quite well, so I decided to explore a bit more!
I had a hotel in Oeiras so my friend who lives in Lisbon rented a car and we started a journey towards the north of the country.
Our journey: Santarem – Coimbra – Porto (in next post)
Santarém
We visited Santarem at first. Just a small half an tour stop. As we parked the car, a small gypsy boy approached us begging the money. Luckily, Nikola has a noble heart. 🙂
Santarem is a small city with nice streets around so you can really see the influence of Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and later Portuguese Christians.
There is a story, one of the various legends which tells how the city got its name: the Visigoth Saint Iria (or Irene), who was martyred in Tomar (Nabantia) but her uncorrupted body reached Santarém. In her honour, the name of the town (then known by its Latin name Scalabis) later became Sancta Irene, from which Santarém derives.
Cabaças Tower (Torre das Cabaças) – Ancient defensive tower of the mediaval wall of the city
Santarém city centre has several monuments, including the largest and most varied ensemble of gothic churches in Portugal. These include fine examples of transitional Romanesque–Gothic.
The biggest impression left was the Church of the Grace, port. Igreja da Graça, built between the 14th and 15th centuries in a mix of mendicant and flamboyant Gothic styles. It has a main portal and rose window (unique in the world, carved out of a single stone) .
Notable are the street decorations as well, painted names of the streets and saints. I took a photo of some of them as these are actually traditonal colors of the country.
Pedro Álvares Cabral, discoverer of Brazil, and his wife are buried under a simple slab near the main chapel of the Church of the Grace.
We continued the way towards Coimbra, but first we needed to get out of the city. The roads to come down the hill and come back to highway again were like this:
Coimbra
Thanks to the Late Middle Ages, with its decline as the political centre of the Kingdom of Portugal, Coimbra became an inspiration for J.K. Rowling to write her searial of Harry Potter books.
This is why nowadays first year students are wearing the black mantle.
So, yes, the University of Coimbra is one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world and the oldest university of Portugal. Established in 1290 it is charing and romantic by itself.
However, even though succesful in the middle ages, the city, located on a hill by the Mondego River, was called Aeminium, deriving its name fromRoman times.
The Botanical Garden is just there, founded in 1772-1774 and it was integrated with the Natural History Museum established by the Marquis of Pombal.
Soon we got lost in this hilly city center, so I just decided to wander around while taking photos and enjoying the time:
That’s it from Coimbra. Next stop: Porto (in the next blog post). Back to highway.
PS On highway we noticed the burned landscapes from the Great Fire in Portugal last summer 2017 when more than 60 people burned immediately on the road. RIP
Awesome photos. Really was unaware about the great fire, thanks for sharing. 🙂
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Nice post keep it up
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great blog; very informative and interesting
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congratulations for having a beautiful blog
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This looks like such a fun trip. Your photos are beautiful. I can’t wait to plan my next trip!
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hey, really amazing. I liked them so much
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Beautiful! I will need to visit someday!
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It’s a awesome post nice…
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Osm blog very interesting
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Such a beautiful place
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Awesome pics and great description
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Nice pictures and good descriptions as well..
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The pictures are great! Very aptly clicked! Keep exploring the globe. 🙂
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Very beautiful pics
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nice
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I also want to visit Portugal but don’t know when..
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Nice blog and posts are amazing
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What ?
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What ?
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What ?
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Very informative post. I got to know so much about Portugal. Thanks.
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Fun trip but i propably love portugal because of ronaldo
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Looks like a great calm city to visit.
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Brilliant Pictures, you have got good hold on the lenses.
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Portugal looks like an interesting country to explore. I really enjoyed looking at your photos. Nice trivia about Harry Potter!
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Street decorations with the names of Saints sounds like a unique concept. Have never heard of something like this before… amazing.
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I visited several blogs except the audio quality for audio songs current at
this site is actually superb.
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