Exploring the Flavors, University, and Community of Coimbra, Portugal

Coimbra, Portugal Travel Guide: Hills, Food Festivals & the University Library | We Should Move Here Travels

Brittany and Josh recap their stop in Coimbra, Portugal, arriving by train from Porto and quickly falling for the city’s views, hills, and community feel. They splurged on a fancy first-night dinner at Restaurant Passaporte with Beef Wellington, duck risotto, cocktails, and a marathon view that helped shape their plans. They stayed in a central walk-up Airbnb with laundry, explored riverside parks and the pedestrian-only bridge, and attended The Burger Cup to try the bronze and gold-winning smash burgers. Highlights include colorful decorated alleyways, a standout vegetarian meal at Fangas Veg, gelato at Dopo, breakfast and brunch stops (including shakshuka), and a visit to Coimbra University with a tour of its historic buildings and famous no-photo library. They also visited Praxis Brewery for a beer flight and dinner, and reflect on Coimbra as a less-touristy place they could imagine living.

00:00 Welcome to Coimbra

00:46 Train Ride and Rankings

02:59 Fancy Dinner Views

06:42 Foodie Festivals Buzz

09:34 Airbnb and Location

10:47 Coffee and Breakfast Hits

13:04 Riverside Walk and Bridge

15:16 Burger Cup Tasting

17:40 Colorful Streets and Art

19:35 Veg Dinner and Craft Beer

22:00 Gelato Flavor Gamble

23:29 Gelato Redemption

23:38 Kroisant Breakfast Run

24:16 Climbing to Coimbra

26:01 Robes and Campus Tour

27:43 Harry Potter Library

30:27 Gardens and Beer Flight

31:50 Night Walk Views

32:49 Brunch and Bubble Tea

34:09 Dehydration and Laundry

35:53 Pizza and Early Train

39:13 Coimbra Reflections

44:47 Travel Tips and Wrap

@WSMHtravels

Transcript

brit 0:11

Hello, and welcome to the We Should Move Here Travels podcast. My name is Brittany.

josh 0:16

I'm Josh.

brit 0:17

And we are your hosts. Today, we are gonna be talking about one of our favorite stops on this trip, which was Coimbra in Portugal.

josh 0:27

Yeah. We had a great time here.

brit 0:30

We had a wonderful time here. I feel like every day, it was just a genuine surprise of what we were gonna be doing. Mm-hmm. we just truly enjoyed all of the adventure- Mm-hmm that we had here, but also some of the relaxation that we had here. So we took the train from Porto to Coimbra- Mm-hmm and it was a pretty short train.

josh 0:52

Wasn't that long at all, and again, pretty easy, 'cause I'm pretty sure Coimbra was on the same route- Yeah as the train that goes from Lisbon to Porto. So we were just kind of backtracking a little bit.

brit 1:05

Yeah, it was for sure, because we stopped in Aveiro on the train, and I was like, "No." "Can we just go back there?" But I'm so glad that we went to Coimbra.

josh 1:16

Right. Even though I think as we're recording this, you've already updated your top three countries, haven't you?

brit 1:28

Sure have.

josh 1:29

What, what are your top three now?

brit 1:31

So my number one has stayed Portree, Scotland.

josh 1:35

Mm-hmm.

brit 1:37

My number two has changed. So my number two is now Aveiro, Portugal, 'cause I loved it so much. Mm-hmm. I mean, I listened back to the episode where we talked about Aveiro, and I heard myself in it, and then I envisioned myself there, and I was like, "Yeah, this is, this is my number two." Mm-hmm. but I did keep Stockholm, Sweden as my number three, because I genuinely loved Sweden too.

josh 2:07

Yeah.

brit 2:07

So I had to remove Ghent. It had to be done. I mean, I loved Ghent, Belgium, but it had to be done. Is yours staying the same?

josh 2:15

Yep, mine's staying the same.

brit 2:17

Ah. Yeah. So what's your top three? Uh,

josh 2:19

I believe I have Ghent, Belgium as my one, I have Portree, Scotland as two, I have Toronto, Canada as three.

brit 2:27

Yeah.

josh 2:28

Mm-hmm.

brit 2:29

Gotta update

josh 2:31

it. It's as up-to-date as it needs to be. Okay. Okay. As of right now anyways,

brit 2:39

so. So no Portugal is making your top three? Uh,

josh 2:42

I don't know. I'm still letting Portugal kinda marinate with me. I loved it and loved Coimbra, and I can't wait to talk about it, but, um, yeah, Aveiro's not making it in, and it's- I just didn't give it a fair shake with only a day and a half there.

brit 2:57

Yeah.

josh 2:57

So.

brit 2:58

Yeah, that's fair. So when we got to Coimbra- Mm-hmm I think we were both pretty tired, and we both took a shower, and then we went out for dinner. And I found this dinner spot, had no idea it was as fancy as it was. No clue. I just found it. I was like, "It has good reviews. Looks like a gorgeous view." Yeah. It was a gorgeous view. Mm-hmm. But it was, uh, pretty fancy.

josh 3:27

Very fancy.

brit 3:28

I wasn't dressed for the fanciness- Neither of us

josh 3:31

were at

brit 3:31

all. it is called Passaporte. Mm-hmm. Restaurant Passaporte. Mm-hmm. And it was gorgeous. We actually, when we walked up, to the restaurant, right before the entrance is kind of a look over the town.

josh 3:48

Mm-hmm.

brit 3:48

And there was a marathon that we caught while we were looking down.

josh 3:53

Yeah.

brit 3:53

And it was kinda fun to see it from that perspective, and then it's also our first time seeing Coimbra, so we're just looking over the city and it look- just looks gorgeous.

josh 4:04

Yeah.

brit 4:05

I mean, what a view.

josh 4:07

Absolutely. And in our video record version, I'm sure we're gonna have a picture or little video playing here of that. But-

brit 4:14

Absolutely

josh 4:15

I think you're gonna hear a lot in this episode of, as we walked up to it- 'cause if we... Again, in Portugal you do a lot of walking up to things. Uh,

brit 4:27

yeah. Even- No, I mean, especially in Coimbra- Yeah it was crazy.

josh 4:32

Mm-hmm.

brit 4:33

There were so many hills that we walked up, which was totally fine. Totally fine. I mean, yeah.

josh 4:39

Got our 20 to 25,000 steps every single day.

brit 4:43

Literally. And it's all uphill. The entire time I'm just thinking, "How is everything uphill? How are we always going up and never going down?"

josh 4:54

Mm-hmm. Uphill both ways. But like you said, walking up to this restaurant, absolutely gorgeous view, and then we walked in, and it had just rained, so they didn't have too much outdoor seating- Mm-hmm available. But, uh, we sat in their kinda cocktail bar, had a cocktail. It's kinda the same view looking out over the water, over where the marathon was. And then we went upstairs for dinner. Mm-hmm. So even further up. We're going higher up, and we had a table right by the ledge, again, overlooking the river that was there and the rest of the town. Wow. And as a first kind of- View of Coimbra, it was perfect. It was- It

brit 5:41

was perfect Mm-hmm unintentionally perfect.

josh 5:45

Yeah.

brit 5:45

I mean, we were obsessed with looking out the window- Mm-hmm and I'm so glad we got the spot that we did because it was right next to the window- Yeah and we could just, like, look over at the bridges, the water. I mean, so cool. Mm-hmm. And then we actually found the, pedestrian only bridge from- Mm-hmm up there, and you were like, "I think that's a pedestrian only one."

josh 6:04

Yeah. I

brit 6:05

was like, "Yeah, I think it is." Mm-hmm. So we walked over that the next day, but oh my gosh, what a fun dinner.

josh 6:12

Right. I- we developed a lot of our plans for Coimbra from that dinner.

brit 6:17

We did.

josh 6:17

Yeah. 'Cause we saw the pedestrian bridge. the waitress, who was very n- nice, kinda talked us through a little bit of Coimbra, 'cause we let her know we just got there.

brit 6:27

Yeah.

josh 6:28

And we saw the event grounds just across the water and asked what was going on there, and she told us about the Burger Cup that was going on the next day, which we'll talk about in a second as well.

brit 6:38

Yeah. We'll get to it. Mm-hmm. But amazing. It was so fun.

josh 6:42

Yeah.

brit 6:42

Coimbra in general is just, I mean, everywhere you look, it's gorgeous. There's a view literally everywhere. and there's so much to do there. Yeah. And it is a foodie paradise. It

josh 6:55

is.

brit 6:55

It is such a foodie hotspot. Yeah. I can't believe I've never heard of Coimbra before this trip-

josh 7:01

Oh

brit 7:02

because it's foodie central.

josh 7:04

Yeah.

brit 7:05

I mean, they have... The waitress had told us that they have not only, like, a burger festival, but they have, also, like, a francesinha festival. They have, like, all of these different food festivals throughout the year. Mm. And I'm like, "Um, this sounds like the perfect place for us." Yeah.

josh 7:23

She said they have a beer festival. I think she said they have- Yeah a wine festival. So they got everything going on. But, uh, this dinner at Pasporte was delicious. Like you said, it was a fancier place than we had anticipated.

brit 7:38

No, it was super fancy. But I did see a Beef Wellington on the menu. Mm-hmm. And when you see a Beef Wellington on the menu, you don't not order it.

josh 7:48

So I ordered

brit 7:51

it. And then you had ordered the duck- Yeah in a risotto.

josh 7:57

Mm-hmm.

brit 7:58

Both were so delicious. When we talk about, like, who ordered what, it doesn't really matter because we both split everything anyways.

josh 8:07

Yeah.

brit 8:07

We, like, slyly trade our plates once we're halfsies

josh 8:11

done.

brit 8:14

But- Ugh, what a good dinner

josh 8:18

A great dinner, good cocktails, fantastic dessert, the great views, great service. It definitely was expensive. Uh, we... I, this might have been our most expensive meal-

brit 8:31

Oh my gosh, really?

josh 8:32

on the trip. I think so.

brit 8:36

Aside from me eating at Salpoente.

josh 8:40

I mean, even from what you said, I think if there were two of us at Salpoente, I think this might have been slightly more expensive.

brit 8:46

Really?

josh 8:47

Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. You, you definitely pay at this place for the service, because the service was incredible. They were constantly coming around, filling up water glasses, asking if we want a drink.

brit 8:58

Mm-hmm.

josh 8:58

Um, you know, dirty silverware, got you new silverware. Talked to us, um, gave us information about the town, the whole bit. The dining room was great. Cocktail lounge was great.

brit 9:11

Mm-hmm.

josh 9:12

Fantastic.

brit 9:13

Really great spot, I agree.

josh 9:15

Definitely a splurge, though.

brit 9:16

Yes. It is a splurge. but I think you pay for the service, but also the vibes- Mm-hmm of this place. in the restaurant it is so well decorated. Yeah. Each room has, like, a different vibe, and I love that. Great place to start.

josh 9:34

as far as our Airbnb. It was a walk-up again, so we were on third or fourth floor, no elevator. So we were getting, on top of walking up all over Portugal- we were constantly walking up the stairs to this place. Again, totally fine. it had a laundry room, which we needed at this point. You definitely needed at this point.

brit 9:58

Oh my gosh, yes. I needed it. I was running out of underwear.

josh 10:06

it was, very well centrally located, kind of on the, uh, border of the more touristy street of Coimbra, and just down the hill, like a 15-minute walk from Coimbra University. so I was happy with where we stayed.

brit 10:23

I was, too. I think it was very well located, and I loved that Coimbra was so walkable. Mm-hmm. We could have even stayed a little further outside and had been fine-

josh 10:35

Yeah

brit 10:36

I think.

josh 10:36

Mm-hmm.

brit 10:37

Um, but it was very centrally located. I appreciated that. And the washer and dryer at this point, totally needed.

josh 10:46

Yeah. Uh, so we start out the next morning right away at a coffee place that, we both enjoyed. Pretty sure it's just a little coffee chain throughout Portugal. Cafe Nu, Now, N-A-U? Not sure how you wanna say it. Uh, but pretty good coffee. Uh, little pastries.

brit 11:05

Yeah, really good coffee. I have been getting a flat white everywhere since I got scolded on TikTok. Mm-hmm. So, I have really been enjoying the flat whites, and this flat white was incredible.

josh 11:23

And of course, I just always get, like, a cappuccino or something, and, or a latte, and it's delicious.

brit 11:28

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. But we ate at Rio for breakfast, which was great. I didn't order well. You ordered great. So, I had ordered a ham and cheese croissant, thinking that it was, like, a, you know, like a ham and cheese croissant where it's, like, baked in with it. I love those. We, I think I had my first one when we went to Italy, and it just, it was so delicious. But I was thinking it was like that, but no, it was, like, a honey croissant cut open, like sandwich style, and then put everything in sandwich style.

josh 12:11

Just cold ham and cheese inside. And you know what, what's even more funny? I bet there's gonna be some people listening, they're like, Yeah, that's what a ham and cheese croissant is." Like, Okay, but

brit 12:23

when I see ham and cheese croissant, I think of the one I had in Italy-

josh 12:26

Yeah

brit 12:27

that's, like, baked in with it. Right. I don't know.

josh 12:29

Kind of like an inclusion loaf sort of style.

brit 12:32

Yeah.

josh 12:33

Mm-hmm.

brit 12:34

But whatever. It was okay. Uh, the acai bowl that you ordered was great.

josh 12:40

That was one of the best acai bowls I've ever had. That was pretty good.

brit 12:45

Yeah.

josh 12:46

And I don't know if it just was because the ham and cheese croissant was so,

brit 12:53

It wasn't bad, okay? It just-

josh 12:56

It wa- it was just shocking. It,

brit 12:57

it- It wasn't what I was expecting.

josh 12:59

Yeah. Neither of us were expecting.

brit 13:01

But hey, we roll with it.

josh 13:03

Mm-hmm.

brit 13:04

Um, we did walk around quite a bit this day.

josh 13:08

Mm-hmm.

brit 13:09

Um, and just, like, explored the area a lot.

josh 13:13

Yeah.

brit 13:14

Um, so we walked around the park area by the water Gorgeous

josh 13:18

It's so great. The parks here are amazing. There's, uh, little spots for gatherings. There, I think there was a couple of, like, small, like, food sheds that were open throughout it going on. Mm-hmm. Plenty of walking trails, running trails. Uh, people were pushing strollers, running, little boardwalk styles. We went across the, the pedestrian-only bridge.

brit 13:45

Mm-hmm.

josh 13:45

Yeah. No,

brit 13:46

it was so fun-

josh 13:48

Yeah

brit 13:48

just exploring this area. And I, in this area, we were walking around was the first time I had the thought in Coimbra of like, "Oh, wow, I could see us here."

josh 13:59

Mm-hmm.

brit 14:00

I really could. 'Cause I was like, "We would be able to walk this every day, and this would be our, what, our morning walk?"

josh 14:07

Yeah.

brit 14:08

That's pretty awesome.

josh 14:10

Yeah. It-

brit 14:11

So-

josh 14:12

It just felt like a place, again, like, built for a community, built for-

brit 14:17

Yeah

josh 14:18

people to live there, which sometimes sounds ridiculous saying 'cause everywhere is kinda, you know, built for someone to live there. But it just, you know, had a community feel to it.

brit 14:30

It did. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And people were, like, getting together and doing things together. Right

josh 14:37

Yeah. And it kinda gave me the feeling of a little bit similar to where we are, near, near where we are, the Fox Cities.

brit 14:45

Mm.

josh 14:46

Um, because we have some great public parks around here with great walking trails. We got, uh, the Fox River and paths around the river and some kinda meeting locations and stuff like that going on occasionally. So very similar in that aspect, but not the amount of hills-

brit 15:10

Yeah

josh 15:11

or undulation.

brit 15:12

Yeah.

josh 15:14

Um, but yeah, so we did that walk for a little bit.

brit 15:16

And then we walked over the pedestrian-only bridge and went to The Burger Cup. Which was so fun.

josh 15:26

It was.

brit 15:27

I mean, I didn't know that they had already crowned, like, the winners when we had ordered our first

josh 15:33

one.

brit 15:34

Mm-hmm. So we had initially ordered the bronze-

josh 15:39

Yeah

brit 15:39

and that one was actually my favorite that we did have.

josh 15:42

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:43

cause we also after that got the gold one.

josh 15:47

Mm-hmm.

brit 15:48

The number one spot.

josh 15:49

Yeah.

brit 15:50

and that one, I mean, it wasn't as good in my opinion.

josh 15:54

Yeah, they were both delicious, both, smash burger style with- Mm-hmm uh, smashed patties, great sauce, good buns. yeah, I think the one that got first place had, like, an extra kinda, like, sweetness to it or something. Yeah. A little less savory.

brit 16:13

Yeah, I mean, if you like a fatty bacon-

josh 16:16

Mm-hmm

brit 16:17

it had a lot of fatty bacon on it.

josh 16:19

Yeah.

brit 16:19

So, and I'm not one for fatty bacon. Mm-hmm. So I think that's what did it for me. Mm-hmm. But the first one had fried onions on the top- Yeah and it j- oh, it was so delicious.

josh 16:31

Well, and the first one, the bun on top had a hole cut in the middle, and then the hole in the middle was just filled with, like, their sauce.

brit 16:41

Yeah. And it

josh 16:43

was, it was delicious actually.

brit 16:44

Like, like a bagel.

josh 16:46

Yeah. Really good, really fun. And this area, this gathering place, had, like, a bandstand set up, so they have concerts there. They have- Mm-hmm their other events. I'm sure they have their Francesinha competition, beer drinking competition or, or beer festival, uh, that goes on in that area as well. A really cool place.

brit 17:13

Yeah, super cool. Mm-hmm. Again, very community-focused. Yeah. Community-minded. Small businesses can go there, make their burgers and- Mm-hmm compete in this competition. And- Yeah I don't know if it, like, makes Portugal news or if it's, like, if they get something for winning. I think that would be cool. But also, it's such a, a unique way to promote your business.

josh 17:38

Yeah.

brit 17:39

So I love that.

josh 17:40

That and kind of just walking around town. For the rest of the day is kinda what we did, just exploring the small streets, uh, exploring both sides of the river of Coimbra. A really beautiful, what felt like smaller town. Definitely smaller feeling than Porto, which we c- Oh just came from.

brit 18:06

Yeah. Yeah, it definitely felt like a smaller town than Porto. Yeah. And coming straight from Porto, I think it's easy for us to kinda compare the two, but- Yeah it's incomparable- Yeah because Coimbra just gave us a different feeling, I think.

josh 18:22

For

brit 18:22

sure. It was cool to see some of their streets or their small alleyways.

josh 18:28

Yeah.

brit 18:28

was, like, a hat street. Mm-hmm. There were hats above you- Mm and some of them were bigger and smaller, and it was just, it added so much color and fun- Yeah to the alleyway. And then there was another, um, crochet kind of street where we had talked to one of the locals, one of our servers at a place, and, uh, asked him about it because it was right outside, and he had said that women in April decorate the streets- Mm-hmm with c- you know, using color. Yeah. Um, and I don't know if that has to do with their Freedom b- Day being in April. Mm-hmm. I wonder if that's a connection. I don't know. but it was just really beautiful to, like, be walking down these alleyways, and it's just so beautifully decorated by women in Portugal.

josh 19:22

Yeah. Yeah. And then there were some, like, murals painted on the sides of buildings as well. So, like you said, everything was just re- like, really well-decorated and really bright in some places, so.

brit 19:34

Yeah,

josh 19:35

yeah.

brit 19:35

so this night we ate at a vegetarian restaurant called Fangas Veg. So delicious. Such a great experience. Mm-hmm. We both were like, "We need some fiber in our lives." we got red kale- Mm-hmm with almond.

josh 19:56

Mm-hmm.

brit 19:56

Delicious. Very vinegar-forward from what I remember.

josh 20:00

Yes.

brit 20:01

Uh, red and yellow pepper with peanut noodles.

josh 20:07

Amazing

brit 20:07

so good. There was a spice to that-

josh 20:11

Mm-hmm

brit 20:11

if I'm remembering correctly.

josh 20:13

Yeah.

brit 20:14

Mushroom and white bean stew. Oh. Amazing. I think, I think this one was my favorite. Oh. It was so savory- Yeah and the broth was, like, thick.

josh 20:24

Yep.

brit 20:24

Ugh, so good.

josh 20:25

Mm-hmm.

brit 20:27

Uh, potato in the oven, which were french fries-

josh 20:31

Mm-hmm

brit 20:31

I believe.

josh 20:32

Like, like-

brit 20:33

Wedges.

josh 20:33

Yeah, wedges or like steak fry sort of things.

brit 20:36

Yeah. And then for dessert we got a lemon and coconut mousse- Mm-hmm which I hated. Do not recommend that one. Um, but the rest of it was delicious.

josh 20:48

Yeah, it was fantastic. Like you said, we, we were looking for some veggies. We got it here. I also had a stout from Praxis Brewery, which is a brewery in Coimbra that we went to the next day, and that's kind of what spurred it on 'cause-

brit 21:04

Mm-hmm

josh 21:04

I had a sip of this stout and I was like, "Oh, this is

brit 21:07

delicious." No, it wasn't a stout. It was a dark lager.

josh 21:11

Oh, dark lager.

brit 21:12

Oh my gosh. It was the first dark lager I think I've ever had, and it was so good.

josh 21:17

Yeah. Absolutely amazing.

brit 21:19

Yeah.

josh 21:20

And this place was fantastic. Again, really great service, really cute place. Not many people were at it, being a vegetarian restaurant. Um, but they also have a, like, full menu that's not vegetarian in their location, which, like, shares a wall. It's right next door.

brit 21:38

Yeah.

josh 21:38

So and that place was definitely busier. So I would highly recommend this place if you're coming to Coimbra.

brit 21:43

Absolutely.

josh 21:44

Mm-hmm.

brit 21:45

Yeah, 10 out of 10 experience. Aside from the lemon and coconut mousse, that just like, the consistency and the texture for me was just really off-putting. Wasn't a fan. I let you eat the whole thing. Um,

josh 22:00

I'm not sure. Was this the night that we got, the funky flavors of gelato from that place or is that the next night?

brit 22:12

Yeah, I think it was this night because I was like, "I need a dessert." Like, I didn't like that. Yeah. I got a caramelized f-

josh 22:25

Sounds ridiculous because it was a ridiculous order.

brit 22:29

Wait, what did I get? I got caramelized fig and what did I get with it?

josh 22:34

Oh, some- uh, it was some, like, cheese. It was-

brit 22:38

No, caramelized fig had... Oh. Something and ricotta?

josh 22:43

Yeah. It was ricotta something.

brit 22:46

I got caramelized fig and tangerine ice cream.

josh 22:51

Mm-hmm.

brit 22:51

Thinking that fig and tangerine might go well together, I was like, "It's, it's gonna go great. It's gonna be perfect." Um, it wasn't. It was... The caramelized fig gelato had, uh, ricotta in it, and it just didn't mesh well. You liked that one, though.

josh 23:13

I did, and lucky for you, my order, we just got, like, small cups with half scoops, and my order was a half scoop of dark chocolate and a half s- scoop of pistachio, which of course was delicious.

brit 23:26

Yeah,

josh 23:26

of course.

brit 23:27

Of course.

josh 23:29

This was at Dopo Gelateria, which we went back to later in the trip.

brit 23:34

Yeah, really, really good. I just had some poor ordering.

josh 23:37

You did.

brit 23:38

So... Uh, the next day, though, we went to

ep42 brit vid and sound 23:42

Kroisant

josh 23:43

Mm-hmm.

brit 23:43

Which, was delicious.

josh 23:46

Mm-hmm.

brit 23:47

We were on a s- acai bowl kick, so we got another acai bowl, and then we also got French toast. Mm. So delicious. So glad that we split every meal because I love being able to try so many different things.

josh 24:02

Yeah.

brit 24:03

This acai bowl I will say isn't as good as the other one, uh, but their French toast was incredible.

josh 24:10

Yeah.

brit 24:11

So...

josh 24:12

And we got coffee here as well, and I think their coffee was pretty good.

brit 24:15

It was, yeah.

josh 24:15

Mm-hmm. Uh, and then we just kinda walked around the streets again but working our way up to Coimbra University.

brit 24:22

Yeah. It was definitely a

josh 24:24

walk-up. Definitely a walk-up. It's- It's

brit 24:27

all

josh 24:28

up. It is a, a steep climb, but it was a fun walk. We got some more coffee on the way up, and once we got to the top we roamed around the university a little bit while we were waiting for our tour to start.

brit 24:45

Yeah, it was so gorgeous up there.

josh 24:48

Mm-hmm.

brit 24:48

I mean, all the way up there and looking over to all of the houses, the river, the just everything that is there, I loved exploring up there. I think w- you and I had several conversations about, like, "Well, if we did come here, if we moved here, is this where you would wanna go to school?"

josh 25:09

Mm-hmm.

brit 25:10

Is Portuguese a language you think you could learn to be able to go to school here?"

josh 25:15

Mm-hmm.

brit 25:16

You know, things like that. and it was just fun kind of e- envisioning ourselves there.

josh 25:21

Right, doing a little bit of daydreaming 'cause who knows who's a- allowed to get into the school, who can get into the school.

brit 25:27

Right.

josh 25:28

No idea of any of that, but it is a really beautiful campus as we were walking around doing that. Very historic, very old. You can, you could feel the history just walking around on the streets and- Right looking at the buildings. Very cool. And like you said, it, the people who go to school there, and you get a chance to look out over Coimbra and the hills and mountain range out there, it's-

brit 25:54

Yeah

josh 25:55

I, I hope you enjoy it 'cause for us, it, it was a treat.

brit 25:59

It definitely was. It was beautiful. Mm-hmm. there were students walking around. Mm-hmm. And the students that had, like, the Harry Potter robes-

josh 26:07

Mm-hmm

brit 26:08

which was kind of fun.

josh 26:11

Yeah. Yeah, really cool. J.K. Rowling based, uh, the robes of Harry Potter off of these robes from Coimbra University, and we saw them kinda, I think, throughout Portugal, like, in different spots or at least the big cities. We saw them in Porto as well. Um, so I think it's, uh, kinda different universities had adopted it as well. Mm-hmm. they told us on the tour, 'cause we did a Coimbra University tour, that they're more now used for special events or catering or, uh, when they are entertaining visitors or giving tours, stuff like that, that they wear those.

brit 26:54

It was, I mean, pretty cool to see. and then we did the tour- Mm-hmm which was very, very cool. Mm-hmm. Uh, really appreciated learning about all of the artifacts and the history of the buildings, and there's just something about an old building, you know? Yeah. Old building with a lot of history.

josh 27:16

Mm-hmm.

brit 27:17

We're not huge history people- but I swear when you're there in it, it's like, it just hits different.

josh 27:23

Yeah.

brit 27:24

Like, I'm not gonna watch something on TV about this building, but if I'm there- Mm I'm not gonna not go to it and- Yeah learn about it, you know?

josh 27:35

Mm-hmm.

brit 27:36

Cause it just feels different when you're there.

josh 27:39

Yeah, when you get to experience it in person.

brit 27:41

Yeah, for sure.

josh 27:43

we got to go into the famous library.

brit 27:47

Yes. This library was stunning. We couldn't take pictures. We weren't allowed. I did take a picture or a video of outside, of the, like, famous part of the library- Mm-hmm where you can't take pictures and there's, like, this, uh, the library area outside of that which is very beautiful as well. Mm-hmm. But this library where you can't take pictures, it is gorgeous. It is straight out of Harry Potter. Yeah. I swear to God, like this place was, we were in Hogwarts. At least in the library.

josh 28:22

Yeah, like in the forbidden section of the library.

brit 28:25

Yeah.

josh 28:26

Yeah, definitely had that feeling. and you have, like, a very strict amount of time that you're allowed to be in there because it's so meticulously cleaned and temperature controlled. So the max that any group gets to stay in there, I think, is 10 minutes.

brit 28:42

Yeah.

josh 28:43

And then the room has to, like, go through a process where the humidity is brought down before, like, another group can come in. Mm-hmm. And they were telling about how... I think there are quite a few books that are copied online that you can see, but there are thousands and thousands more that aren't. And if students or someone wants to get a book, they have to request it, get permission to get it, and then when they get it, someone else brings it and kind of stays with them while they have one of these books. 'Cause, of course, they're extreme- some of them are extremely old books.

brit 29:22

I mean, some of the oldest books, I think, in the world-

josh 29:24

Probably

brit 29:24

are in that library.

josh 29:25

Probably, yeah. So really cool, really interesting to see. Don't have pictures of that, unfortunately. No, we

brit 29:33

can't.

josh 29:35

Yeah.

brit 29:35

Even if we did, I would not share them on this podcast. Right. We'd get in so much trouble. Yeah. But I swear to God, I don't.

josh 29:42

Yeah, we don't.

brit 29:43

We did not take any pictures.

josh 29:44

No.

brit 29:45

but just think of, like, a small, very, very old library with tall ceilings. Mm-hmm. And the, like, ladders that go up to-

josh 29:58

The top shelf

brit 29:59

yeah, like the very top- Mm-hmm by the ceiling.

josh 30:02

Yeah.

brit 30:02

Very tall ladders.

josh 30:03

Mm-hmm, and, like, hidden, uh, hidden doorways to small staircases- Yeah to other levels of this library. So cool that this was all thought of when this library was built and- Mm-hmm constructed. Beautiful ceilings. Ah, it was amazing.

brit 30:24

Very amazing. Yeah. so then we went to explore some of the gardens. Mm-hmm. We walked around the, um, the gardens a little bit, and that was beautiful. Mm-hmm. Uh, both of us started to get hungry at this point. We got a Uber over to Praxis- Mm-hmm for some beer tasting.

josh 30:46

Yeah.

brit 30:46

And we also got dinner there. Got a beer flight. My favorite was that Onyx. That was so good, the dark lager.

josh 30:54

Delicious.

brit 30:55

Mm. Yeah, and then for dinner, we got a veggie Francesinha. Mm-hmm. Delicious. And a- A shrimp salad- Mm-hmm I believe. and then we got this beer pudding cup-

josh 31:09

Mm-hmm

brit 31:09

for dessert. That was so good. Yeah.

josh 31:13

Uh-huh.

brit 31:14

It didn't look as appealing as it tasted-

josh 31:16

Yeah

brit 31:17

I will say.

josh 31:19

It would have been a rough day for you if we went back-to-back days with, uh, poor desserts.

brit 31:25

Ugh. Well, you know, we didn't ask for a recommendation for dessert at the previous place. Mm-hmm. We did ask for this one.

josh 31:34

Yeah.

brit 31:34

So I think that's where we went wrong-

josh 31:36

Mm-hmm

brit 31:36

before. Yeah. But we asked for this one, and dude was like, "Yeah, beer pudding cup, that's where it's at."

josh 31:43

Yeah. Or it was, like, beer bread pudding. It was something like that.

brit 31:46

Yeah.

josh 31:46

Beer something in a cup. Something

brit 31:49

like that. Yeah. And then we, uh, took a long walk back. It was a pretty long walk. Um-

josh 31:56

Mm-hmm

brit 31:56

but gorgeous at night.

josh 31:59

Mm-hmm.

brit 31:59

All of the city lights right next to the water just... I mean, and it's so safe- Mm-hmm that I wasn't concerned about our safety at all.

josh 32:07

just the hills and the mountain range in the background, and like you said, the city lights, the rooftops of all the buildings. Stunning.

brit 32:16

Gorgeous.

josh 32:16

Mm-hmm.

brit 32:17

It's exactly what I thought Portugal was gonna look like.

josh 32:20

yes, if- if you think of like, "Oh, what does Portugal look like at night with the lights?" This exactly how- Mm-hmm how I imagined it. You're right.

brit 32:29

Yeah, for sure. and then we... Okay, we are in our 30s. We're old and lame. We do not stay out late. We are not nightclub goers, so we crashed early again. That's a common theme throughout this trip and every trip we've ever taken. So the next morning we had brunch at Kaju.

josh 32:54

Mm-hmm.

brit 32:55

We had shakshuka, shakshuka.

josh 32:58

Mm-hmm, again.

brit 32:59

Again.

josh 33:00

Yeah.

brit 33:00

Yes. This one was great.

josh 33:02

Fantastic.

brit 33:03

and then we also got avocado toast with an egg on top.

josh 33:06

Mm-hmm.

brit 33:07

Very good.

josh 33:07

Very good. Uh, really good place for coffee again as well. I feel like NAU was our favorite place to get coffee 'cause you even, didn't you get a, a cup for the train ride the next morning?

brit 33:20

I did.

josh 33:21

Yeah.

brit 33:21

Yeah.

josh 33:22

So we definitely got some more coffee from there as well. Did a lot more walking around, a lot more exploring this day.

brit 33:29

Mm-hmm.

josh 33:30

Mm-hmm.

brit 33:31

Yeah. We also got bubble tea at the Phone Box.

josh 33:35

Yeah, a couple places, in Coimbra with bubble tea, and really good. A kind of a interesting place to have it. I guess it makes sense with the university-

brit 33:45

Yeah

josh 33:46

and a, a diverse population with that, that there would be, uh, bubble tea, so.

brit 33:51

Mm-hmm. I love bubble tea. Mm-hmm. When I see a bubble tea place, I get, like, giddy.

josh 33:57

Yeah.

brit 33:57

I get so excited 'cause I just love bubble tea so much. Yeah. Um, but we did walk around, and we went back to some of the parks that we explored the day before.

josh 34:09

Mm-hmm.

brit 34:09

And, um, I was super dehydrated this day.

josh 34:14

Yeah.

brit 34:14

So dehydrated. We got a huge-ass water bottle, and we sat on a park bench, and you made me drink it all.

josh 34:23

Yeah, We were definitely underestimating the amount of steps we were doing-

brit 34:27

Yeah

josh 34:27

and how much it was just, like, walking up and down these hills 'cause we've been to Europe plenty of times and average the 20,000 steps a day, 25,000 steps a day.

brit 34:38

Well, and we get 10 every day here.

josh 34:40

Right, but it's pretty flat, pretty neutral- Yeah walking ground, where here it's constant up, constant down. It's, it's an exercise, for sure.

brit 34:52

Yeah. It is. Yeah, I don't think- I was, uh, drinking enough water

josh 34:58

No

brit 34:59

And I was drinking way too much wine.

josh 35:00

I, I was gonna say, not enough water, too much wine. Bad recipe to be dehydrated. Mm-hmm.

brit 35:07

Yeah, but I felt much better after drinking all of that water.

josh 35:11

Yeah.

brit 35:11

Um, so thank you for that. Mm-hmm.

josh 35:15

And I think we used, um, part of this afternoon as well to, uh, do laundry. I think in the middle of it we walked back to, um, the gelato place and we got some more gelato.

brit 35:28

Yeah. This time I did better at ordering.

josh 35:30

100% better, 'cause I was like, "If we're gonna split, you better not stick me with a half a ricotta- and rhubarb or whatever baloney it was."

brit 35:42

It was fig.

josh 35:43

Uh, whatever it was. Mediocre ordering. It was order...

brit 35:49

Hold on. we got chocolate, coconut, and raspberry. for dinner that night, we got pizza and salad at La Piccola

josh 35:58

Mm-hmm

brit 35:59

Very good place. I was, uh, I think, pretty anxious at this point about traveling- Mm because there was the-

josh 36:09

The Hanta virus

brit 36:10

the Hanta virus thing going around and- Yeah they were said to go back to Spain, and we were in Portugal, and I'm like, "Whoa, that's close." Yeah. So I got a little nervous, but-

josh 36:23

Mm-hmm

brit 36:24

we're good. You have allergies, but we're good

josh 36:27

Yeah. I'm, I'm struggling through these last couple episodes we're recording. This thing is just sticking around with me. Mm. Yeah. But, uh, but anyways, yeah. So we got this place, uh, 'cause we looked up and it said they had great pizza, and they did. We had, I think a, like a margherita pizza with... What, what was it?

brit 36:48

I think it was just a, uh, so we, it was just a margherita pizza cause it had tomatoes and basil and mozzarella and olive oil The crust was pretty damn good.

josh 37:02

Yeah. Overall, fantastic pizza. Really good little salad.

brit 37:07

Mm-hmm.

josh 37:08

Really good dinner.

brit 37:09

Yeah. Absolutely what we needed.

josh 37:11

It was back up the hill.

brit 37:13

It was back up the hill. But on the other side. It's like on another hill, a different hill. Yep. Not the university hill, but the hill next to it.

josh 37:22

Another hill.

brit 37:23

There's hills everywhere, okay? Yeah. But, this night we were really prepping for our early train because I think we had to get up at like 5:00 AM.

josh 37:36

Something like that, yeah, 'cause we had a, I think a 7:00 AM train ride because we were paying to Lagos next, so it was a longer train ride day.

brit 37:45

Yeah, very, very long train ride day. But we'll get there. so we were just prepping. I think we stopped at the grocery store and got some breakfast for the next morning. Mm-hmm. And, um, I actually got coffee from Nau to go. Mm. And then I put it in the fridge overnight and drink it in the morning because I was like, "I'm not gonna go a morning without coffee."

josh 38:06

Mm-hmm.

brit 38:07

That's ridiculous. So I just drink it cold in the morning.

josh 38:11

I think one thing that we haven't mentioned for Aveiro or Porto so far for Portugal at all is that Portugal definitely starts later.

brit 38:23

Very much so. Yeah. Yes. They start so much later.

josh 38:27

Mm-hmm.

brit 38:27

Yeah. So I mean, places don't really open until like 9:00, which as Americans we're like totally not used to. Places open at 5:00 AM here.

josh 38:37

What do you mean? Starbucks is open at 6:00 AM or whatever. Yeah. But I mean, good for them, man. I don't wanna be awake at 6:00 AM.

brit 38:48

I mean, for real.

josh 38:49

Yeah. I didn't wanna- Good

brit 38:50

for them

josh 38:51

I didn't wanna be awake that early for that train ride, but there were plenty of people. I assume there's tons of commuting for work and for school and whatever, 'cause there were quite a few people up for the train.

brit 39:03

Mm-hmm.

josh 39:03

Yeah.

brit 39:03

Yeah. Yeah. And again, the train was very easy to navigate. Um, we'll get to the, the long train day- Yeah in the next episode. But yeah, that was, that's Coimbra.

josh 39:17

Yeah. That was our day-to-day of Coimbra. Again, kind of like how we started, really great place, very historic, very community feeling place.

brit 39:25

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. I really appreciated Coimbra and everything that it brought. It actually, um, was another spot that gave me the feeling. It wasn't, I don't think, as strong as what I got in Aveiro. But I did spend a lot longer in Aveiro, so I would wonder if I spent more time in Coimbra if I would feel it even more there.

josh 39:52

Right.

brit 39:52

but I loved it. I think it was a really beautiful place, and I could envision us there. Mm-hmm. I really could.

josh 40:00

Yeah.

brit 40:00

How do you feel about it?

josh 40:01

I feel great about it. I thought it was a super cool college town. Again, very relatable to, like, the Fox Cities here-

brit 40:10

Mm-hmm

josh 40:10

plus the hills, plus the beauty of the nature around us. Um, I would love to go back to Portugal and have a vehicle where we can drive around and explore, maybe go for some hikes and see the beauty around these towns.

brit 40:24

Yeah.

josh 40:24

Cause we were definitely limited to just walking within the towns, which was great. It was still wonderful.

brit 40:31

Yeah.

josh 40:31

but I think being able to explore more outside of them would be something I would need regardless. Um- Oh,

brit 40:38

for sure. For sure

josh 40:40

yeah, I think Coimbra was my favorite of towns as far as a place that I could see us living potentially.

brit 40:50

Yeah.

josh 40:51

Mm-hmm.

brit 40:52

It offered something that I think the other places didn't it wasn't as touristy.

josh 41:00

Mm-hmm.

brit 41:01

Like, it was still somewhat touristy, but it wasn't as touristy as, like, Porto or Lisbon or Lagos. So I think it was just a little different in that, in that sense.

josh 41:13

For sure. Smaller town, less people. Yeah.

brit 41:16

Mm-hmm.

josh 41:16

Yep.

brit 41:17

But also had so much to offer.

josh 41:19

Could definitely go back again and be in a totally different section of it and see so much more because we, we saw just a small chunk of it. Yeah.

brit 41:28

Yeah. Do you think that... So if Portugal, the trip digests a little bit, and you decide to put Portugal in your top three, would it be Coimbra?

josh 41:41

Yeah, I mean, out of... I don't think I can include Aveiro too much. I mean, if it blew my socks off in a day and a half, then for sure. But I mean, it didn't, so Fair. I, I like the hills, you know?

brit 42:00

Yeah.

josh 42:00

yeah, it would be... If, if there were any of them that I would put in my top three, it would be Coimbra, but we've just... We've been to some really cool places already that- Coimbra can't beat, in my opinion

brit 42:11

But you're not totally writing it off yet? You're letting it digest?

josh 42:15

Yeah, yeah, still letting it digest. Mm-hmm.

brit 42:17

Okay.

josh 42:18

Yeah. I think the one spot in my top three is Toronto, but Toronto is just, like, a unique sort of place because it's still clearly close to us, close to United States. Mm-hmm. And, uh, it was a place that we had a lot of fun at.

brit 42:37

It was, yeah.

josh 42:38

And, uh, it's also beautiful, and then it's got access to the rest of Canada and the United States. So it's more than just being Toronto. Like, each place is more than just the place is.

brit 42:53

Yeah.

josh 42:53

So, like, when we did our Ireland trip and we did our Scotland trip, like, it was so... It was a lot easier to see a city for more than just, like, the small, like, middle part of the city was that you're kind of limited to when you're just walking.

brit 43:08

Yeah. Oh, for sure.

josh 43:10

So maybe that's gotta go into planning a little bit more. Maybe we, we do some more, uh, car rentals and do some more traveling like that, 'cause that's fine. I just love trains. Trains are so cool, and they're so easy. but maybe it's not practical for analyzing or evaluating a city how we want to.

brit 43:34

Yeah. But also, if we're considering not having a car in these places-

josh 43:39

Mm-hmm

brit 43:39

makes sense not to have a car- Right when we're traveling, so.

josh 43:43

Right. But if we're only there for three days, like, to get c- the broadest picture of a city-

brit 43:49

Yeah

josh 43:50

of a place, a car is kind of a little more practical.

brit 43:55

Maybe.

josh 43:56

Plus, then we don't run into situations like we did that we'll talk about for the Lagos episode. Yeah,

brit 44:04

we'll talk about it.

josh 44:06

Mm. What about you? What about you? I mean, you, you said you added Aveiro to your number two spot.

brit 44:15

Yeah. I really debated whether it was gonna be Aveiro or Coimbra.

josh 44:20

Mm.

brit 44:20

But I think Aveiro Just gave me more of the feeling.

josh 44:26

Yeah.

brit 44:26

And maybe it was because it was my solo travel, maybe it was because I spent longer there. Who knows? But I really got the feeling in Aveiro when I saw us there.

josh 44:37

Mm-hmm.

brit 44:38

I also saw us in Coimbra. Mm. So it was a hard decision, but,

josh 44:42

You just felt a little more of Aveiro.

brit 44:44

It did.

josh 44:45

Yeah.

brit 44:46

Yeah.

josh 44:46

Fair enough. Yep, I, I definitely think if someone is planning a trip to Portugal, I think Coimbra should be a stop that you should make.

brit 44:55

Absolutely.

josh 44:56

Mm-hmm.

brit 44:57

Yeah. I think that it will be something outside of maybe, your typical, big city-

josh 45:05

Mm-hmm

brit 45:05

that you might be looking for that's also very easy to get to. I,

josh 45:09

I definitely heard some locals say that some people do day trips from Lisbon to it.

brit 45:16

Mm. Yeah.

josh 45:18

You know, take a, take a train there, 'cause I don't think it's all that far. Hour and a half, maybe two hours. So it'd be kind of a longer day trip, I think you could dedicate the full day or two there.

brit 45:28

Oh, absolutely.

josh 45:29

Yeah, if you're just looking for a place to visit, it's pretty cool. If not to see Coimbra University, one of the oldest universities in all of Europe. So.

brit 45:38

Yeah, and if all of that doesn't float your boat, they also have all those food festivals, so.

josh 45:44

All those food festivals. You could come back for beer fests or wine fests, come back for burger fests next year when it happens. Yeah. I bet they have a coffee fest.

brit 45:54

Ooh, I bet they do.

josh 45:56

I bet they do.

brit 45:57

If they don't, they should get on that.

josh 45:59

I bet they have a lot of them. And obviously they have some music festivals, 'cause they had- Mm-hmm the, like, bandstand set up permanently there, so.

brit 46:06

Yeah.

josh 46:06

Um, yeah, I bet it's a really cool place to be.

brit 46:09

Absolutely.

josh 46:10

Yeah.

brit 46:11

next episode we will be talking about our time spent in Lagos. Josh went into the ocean for the first time.

josh 46:20

Ooh.

brit 46:21

And it was so fun. We'll talk about it. don't forget to like, subscribe and follow on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube @wsmhtravels.

josh 46:31

You can listen to our podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. YouTube is where we have our video record version, including pictures and videos from our trip. please continue to leave your comments and send us messages on what you liked from our trips and suggestions for our future trips. We really appreciate it.

brit 46:48

Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.