Greetings from Coimbra! We have survived our first week of classes at the university and are enjoying this beautiful city. We had above-average temperatures last week (55-62 degrees F) but it rained nearly every day. Today was much colder (36-50 degrees F) but sunny, so Raymond and I took a nice long walk around the city, through the botanical garden, and across the river to Santa Clara (but alas – our favorite churrascaria with its delicious grilled chicken and side dishes was not open and seemed to have closed…).

City Views and Jardim Botânico

Other Views of Coimbra

Above (L to R): Raymond giving a street musician a coin via his cute dog holding a plastic cup in its mouth; typical architecture and cafe scene near the university; the historic Church of Santa Cruz with university illuminated above; the fountain of the Jardim da Manga (Garden of the Mango) in the city center; sunset view from the stairway landing outside of our little attic apartment.

Back in Terceira…

Above (L to R): the front ‘yard’ of our house; two potted hyacinths just starting to bloom and a large planter with a lettuce mix; the big terracotta vase with little olive tree and stairs going down to lower level and garden; looking over the retaining wall at the stream. The water seems not to rise as high during heavy rainfall now that I regularly clear it of detritus and obstructive rocks, which were moved to the sides to reinforce the banks and prevent further erosion.