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Coimbra
After our pleasant stay near Porto, today we headed south in search of the sun…..again. After a night of rain we set off in low mist and heavy clouds toward the University town of Coimbra, one that the books say is highly regarded in Portugal. I was struck by the fact it refered to itself as City of Knowledge rather than City of Learning: I wonder why? Has Gove visited and put them on the right road?
Our first stop was to be a forested area called Bucaco where two things are to be found. Apart from the forest, of course. Firstly, there is a very famous hotel although originally it was designed as a hunting lodge. According to legend, or just maybe the Sun/ News of the World/ Daily Mail of the Portuguese at that time, King Carlos's son King Manuel II had a 'daliance' here with a famous French actor Gaby Deslys. She was obviously unimpressed by what was on offer as the dalliance was short lived. The lodge became a hotel after the royals fled to England in about 1910 and is now one of the great hotels of Portugal selling its own renowned wine. Sadly, we did not have time to taste it.
Secondly, and it is at this moment all Sharpe fans stand up, it is the location for the greatest battle in Portuguese history. That battle was called Bucaco and took place on 27th September 1810. The Duke of Wellington repulsed the French under Massena and from about this time the Napoleonic forces had, effectively, lost the war in Portugal and, ultimately, Spain. What I found surprising was the Bucaco is on the top of some very steep hills and the whole area is pretty rugged. When we leave the area next week sometime, we will have to pass through these hills again and it looks like the east of Portugal is similar. That will all add to the fun of driving in Portugal with its sometimes narrow and, at times, very twisty roads.
The battle monument stands on top of a small hill and sadly it is not brilliantly maintained. On the day, it was surrounded by a local, and very noisy, market. It had its collection of local producers, cheap tools, but also cheese, sausages, and the latest shoes off the catwalks of London and Paris all at 3.99 euros. Or three pairs for 10 euros.. There was also a noisy Trotter type figure in an overstocked white van selling linen. With a microphone locked to his mouth he kept up his painful patter for the whole of the time we were there. Standing in front of him paying little attention was a crowd of four people, but I didn't see Trigger or Rodney.
Sheltered under various temporary tarpaulins', held firm by ropes attached to various pegs that had been hammered into the ground were the 'Restaurants'. These consisted of long tables and benches serving various types of cooked food with wine, but not local wine. Unbelievably we saw Lambrusco being sold by the glass! The barbeque was interesting; the rear of an old truck where the burning charcoal was lying above which was an adapted spit turner and four racks on which chicken was cooking. All looked rather tempting in the sense of us learning about the lives of local Portuguese. We were, however, out of cash not having found a bank all day so had to give it a miss. Pity.
We did get to visit the Musee Militaire when it finally opened and this did not prove to be very rewarding. To be fair the video was quite informative. It was made by an ultra patriotic Portuguese historian, who seemed to become quite animated and forceful when he argued that the impact of the war on such a small population was very long lasting. The English translation offered some rather comic moments. I think they must have used the Google translator! In addition, they had a diorama of the battle scene but since this lacked any explanation, it was a little wasted. However, I have at last got to a Peninsular war site and even some of the stuff I learnt at A Level crept back into my memory.
We are now settled in Coimbra after a slightly disappointing visit to a supermarket. Maybe because it was French (Intermarche) the availability of local wine was not as good as we had hoped. Bought a few bottles but not ones I was hoping to find. Just have to hope to a different place with a better selection!
- comments
Meryl But the Intermarche did stock excellent fish and meat, so we had 2 good home cooked medals. But we had eTen in the university canteen for a very good price of 9 euro for a cooked meal with chips. Readers please add your comments so Jon knows someone is reading this. Xx
Richard I have been commenting. Have they not reached you?