Above is the ticket to Queima das Fitas “Burning ribbons” a traditional festivity of the students of some Portuguese universities, organized originally by the students of the University of Coimbra. A heck of a party. We arrived in Coimbra and caught the last day of the festival switch started with fireworks at midnight. There was a main stage for bands to play and 3 large tents for dj’s. The food is worth mentioning, vendors spit roasting entire pigs and for dessert there was a candy trolly providing a variety to choose from. Apparently this festival beat Octoberfest in beer consumed, the locals made sure we know this impressive fact. In a blurry combination of music genres and mini plastic beer cups covering the ground, 6 am rolled in so we rolled out. Heck of a party indeed.

The gallery above is pictures from Coimbra; from around town and the university.

The students carry on a long tradition of capes and outfits seen above, the badges are earned and hidden from sight in times of mourning. You’ll probably assume Harry Potter’ish about the look and you’d be right. In fact J.K. Rowling drafted a few of her novels in Porto. The very busy library below was also an inspiration for some scenes in the movies. I managed to snap one picture without anyone in the image, great success!

In Porto our free morning walking tour was well worth the time and tip at the end. Our tour was provided by Porto Walkers who were enthusiastic and well informed. Here are some shots from the walk:

Stoked from the walk we decided to continue by signing up to the port wine tasting tour, which is a must for Porto as it is the birthplace of port wine. (Fun facts: Portugal’s two main exports are 2 – Port wine and 1 – Corks and cork material.) Venturing to a port wine museum and celler we had our first taste, anticipating it to be sickly sweet I was delightfully surprised to find a rich and full body experience. Not too sweet.

Nearly 20% alcohol content left us glowing as we continued on to two more spots. One with a female Porto style Fado singer which compared to Coimbra Fado sounded much more up beat and that a women was the singer. By the way, Fado is a type of music home to Portugal infused with melancholy emotion and usually serious content. Saudade is a Portuguese word that doesn’t translate easily to english and is used to describe Fado. I was told it is best compared to the heavy saturating emotion one can experience when something is loved and then lost. Back to the third spot which was a more contemporary joint, challenging traditional methods of port production and taking heat for it.

After checking out from the Garden House hostel we strolled out to cross the popular bridge Ponte de D. Luis. The day provided a hot sunny and picturesque scene to snap some pictures shown below.

Sowing in the time…

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Greetings from Seville, Spain! We’re arrived here from Granada two days ago, and are having a blast! The weather is nice and toasty at 34 degrees, with clear blue skies!

We wandered around the Maria Luisa park yesterday, and found the amazing Plaza de Espana – see pictures below. This plaza has beautiful tile art of Spain’s military victories, and a fantastic fountain. They even had a Zumba rally going on (a type of exercise based on dance moves). They sure are dedicated – as the weather was 34 degrees!

Checked out the Alcazar today, which was the Moorish palace when the Muslim Empire ruled this area. It was taken over again during the Spanish re-conquest many centuries ago. It has a great mix of Muslim and Christian architecture and art. The gardens around the palace are quite amazing – I got lost and wandered for hours!

We’ll be in Seville until June 5, so we can take our time to enjoy the sites. A few events we have lined up include Flamenco music/dancing, and bullfighting. Should be quite the experience!

On June 5 we’re headed to Morocco! We take the bus to Tariffa, and hop a ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar. Onward and forward to Africa! Until then!

View during my afternoon siesta

Gardens in Seville’s Alcazar

Ceiling dome in Seville’s palace – nice digs

Catching up on Game of Thrones – backpacker style

Plaza de Espana in Seville – Massive!

Sandles giving me some weird tans lines!

We arrived on bus to Granada, Spain and checked into White Nest Hostel. Covering the rolling hills were smaller tree’s stretching out as far as the eye could see, pretty sure they’re olive trees. Keeping the whole bus company was the comical elderly Spanish couple, who transended the language barrier by their refined routine together. But Granada will be another post, I want to share a place called Sintra (20min bus ride from Lisbon).

We were made aware lots of walking/hiking awaited us to reach the sites. So upon recommendation we found a local spot a fueled up on some bacalhau fish with rice, which was needless to say delicious. Oh and beer. Tip: Super Bock over Segres any day.

First up was Quinta de Regaleira a honest and true fantasy land, easily a day trip on its own. Going uphill are pathways weaving throughout vast lush gardens with the odd narrow trail tempting you to explore. Along the way to getting lost are well maintained buildings, towers and of course a private chapel for the big cheese living here.

As if ment to be hid was a well going down 27m called the initiatic well. Carved out is a pathway winding around down the well where its delightfully colder. The bottem view up was cool, even better were the interconnected caves we stumbled around in. This place is filled with continuous surprises, like a commercial reminding you “BUT WAIT THERES MORE.”

Accompanying the epic gardens was the palace, worth taking the time to admire. Exquisite to say the least.

Second stop was the Moorish castle ruins a journey in its self getting to them. The pathway up hill took its toll on our conversation, from talking to joking about “it never ending” to silence until we arrived. The castle walls hugged the outskirts of the hill and on each corner a tower to look out from providing spectacular views.

Burnt out and out of time we decided to skip the colorful palace perched independently at the highest top. Other travelers recommend visiting the palace giving great feedback. Maybe next time.

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