We have made a couple exploratory trips the last few days, to
Braga (northward) and
Coimbra (southward). We really should have done more research and spent more time in each of these historic cities, but we did get a quick look, enough to come back for more. Here are some pictures anyway, and we're already doing some research for next time.
In Braga we did stop at an archaeological museum,
Museu de Arqueologia Dom Diogo de Sousa, and marveled at the antiquities from ancient Greece and from Roman times in the Braga region. Here is an example of the ancient Greek mosaic tile work on display.
 |
| Church of St. Mark in Braga |
On the way to Coimbra we stopped at an elegant restaurant "
Pompeu dos Frangos" in the town of Anadia for lunch. It was delicious, and the restaurant itself was a slice of history. The building had been a "changing station" stop along the Lisbon to Porto postal route since the second half of the 19th century, back when it took 34 hours, four meals, and rests and changes for the staff and horses to make the 300 km (186 mi) trip.
We also saw saw some large bird nests atop poles, kind of like the ones ospreys build. Then we saw the occupants: storks! Unfortunately we couldn't get pictures, but it was a fun sight to see, very European. And on the way home the poor saps going the other direction on the highway were backed up for many kilometers because a truck full of bananas had overturned. That sounds like the punchline to some joke, but I'm sure those drivers didn't think it was so funny.
We just found that there is regulated traceability on each individual egg here! Each egg is labeled with a code which identifies if it is organic, free range, or ground laid, the origin and region it came from, and a date code. (Look closely and you can see it printed on the egg in red here.) Much of the regulation we see here seems to be intended to provide information and to protect the consumer.
We've had our sporty and fun rental car (a Toyota Yaris hybrid) for three weeks now. We've been joking that the gas gauge seems to be stuck, it goes down so slowly. We've been doing a mixture of city and highway driving as the gauge crept downward. Finally on the trip to Coimbra we got down to 1/4 tank and filled up: 24 liters (just over 6 gal), cost €41 ($44), distance 633 km (393 mi), resulting in a gas mileage of 26 km/l or 62 mpg. Wow! Looks like we're restoring our karma for all those miles pulling the trailer back in the US at 10 mpg.
(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click in the black area outside a photo when you're done.)
