Not our name, but our passion
When you purchase your ticket to visit the “Biblioteca Joanina” in Coimbra University, the Academic Prison is included on the tour. It consists of three small rooms where students were imprisoned at a time when the university could enforce both civil laws and university rules like not returning a book to the library!
The Old Cathedral of Coimbra (Sé Velha de Coimbra) is a Romanesque Roman Catholic building in Portugal. Construction of the Sé Velha began some time after the Battle of Ourique (1139), when Prince Afonso Henriques declared himself King of Portugal and chose Coimbra as capital. The first Count of Coimbra, the Mozarab Sisnando Davides, is buried in the cathedral.
In the old town of Coimbra, Portugal between the Arch Almedina and Coimbra University there is a cannabis store and restaurant; the Bud Temple Cannabis Cult.
The Arch Almedina or Arco de Almedina is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Coimbra. Almedina Arch in the historic downtown of Coimbra is the remnant of the defensive wall that once surrounded the city. This ancient city wall dates back to the sixth century. The arch was built in the twelfth century. The Arco Almedina has an old bell that used to ring in the morning and evening to open and close the city gates, and sounded the alarm at disastrous events. Now the arch and the tower are national historic monuments.
A dish my mother used to make back in Brazil when I was growing up we saw Bolinhos de Bacalhau on the menu in the Solar do Bacalhau restaurant in Coimbra. I just had to try them!
Bacalhau dishes are common in Portugal, and also in former Portuguese colonies like Cape Verde, Angola, Macau, Brazil, and Goa. There are said to be over 1000 recipes in Portugal alone and it can be considered the iconic ingredient of Portuguese cuisine (but curiously the only fish that is not consumed fresh in this fish loving country, boasting the highest per capita fish consumption within the European Union). It is often cooked on social occasions and is the traditional Christmas Eve dinner in some parts of Portugal.
Bolinhos are a cake made of bacalhau, potato, egg and spices. They were never my favorite dish but these were some of the best I ever had.
