May 17
Porto to Lisbon is about a 3 hr drive on a good 4 lane highway so along the way we diverted to Coimbra for a visit to the university and a self guided tour through the old palace and library. A UNESCO world heritage site and established in the 13th century, this is one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world & the oldest university in Portugal. The library contains over 250,000 volumes of works of the sciences, philosophy, and history with collections of original works from as early as the 16th century. The books are in excellent shape considering their age as the library is a perfect vault sealing the 3 rooms with the perfect temperature and moisture control. There are also bats living in the library which control the insects which would otherwise have destroyed the books. The tables are covered with leather towels each night to protect the surfaces from the bat guano and the library is cleaned each morning before opening.
Our final night in Lisbon was remarkable for fado, Portugese folkloric music also known as the Lisbon blues, in the Bairro Alto. The next morning we were off to Bilbao in northern Spain.
Porto to Lisbon is about a 3 hr drive on a good 4 lane highway so along the way we diverted to Coimbra for a visit to the university and a self guided tour through the old palace and library. A UNESCO world heritage site and established in the 13th century, this is one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world & the oldest university in Portugal. The library contains over 250,000 volumes of works of the sciences, philosophy, and history with collections of original works from as early as the 16th century. The books are in excellent shape considering their age as the library is a perfect vault sealing the 3 rooms with the perfect temperature and moisture control. There are also bats living in the library which control the insects which would otherwise have destroyed the books. The tables are covered with leather towels each night to protect the surfaces from the bat guano and the library is cleaned each morning before opening.
Our final night in Lisbon was remarkable for fado, Portugese folkloric music also known as the Lisbon blues, in the Bairro Alto. The next morning we were off to Bilbao in northern Spain.
No comments:
Post a Comment