Cabacos to Coimbra (38 miles; 287 total)

Overall an excellent touring day. Cooler temperatures, a mild headwind, much greener landscape with eucalyptus forest blending into vineyards, and homes with garden plants as we approached Coimbra. We rode mostly quiet, well-surfaced roads, and had fewer long climbs.

Coimbra is the home of the oldest university in Portugal and was the first capital of Portugal before it was moved to Lisbon. As part of the move, the university was moved to Coimbra. The University of Coimbra is a public research university first established in Lisbon in 1290. It went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537.The large number of students lends a hip vibe to the town, also teeming with tourists.

Mansao Alto Alentejo, Cabacos. A lot of money was spent developing this large hotel, restaurant complex, seeing limited patronage today. This is the restaurant end, so we initially rode past, not seeing the hotel portion facing the main highway. The owner was extremely friendly, even offering to drive us to a restaurant. Another couple appeared to be permanently renting a room, but we did not see any other guests. With a loaded lime tree in front, they stored our bikes in a ground-level garage, with marble floors (of course).



Boris of Bullwinkle Fame? We stopped for coffee on our way out of Cabacos and watched the early-morning street characters.

Cabacos City Tile in the town square.

Small farms, good roads.

Eucalyptus forest. Much greener than the area further west near the border with Spain.


Cork Tree, 2022 harvest.

Taking in the grape harvest. Many have have small, private plots and make their own wine. This couple's vineyard was on the opposite slope.

Communal Harvest. We happened upon a group of 10 or more picking grapes. They all were friends, sharing a communal activity. The owner of the vineyard told Luis, the younger man with a smattering of English, to give us a taste of their wine, bottled from the 2021 harvest. The blanco was crisp, chilled, and a little harsh. John sampled the tinto and blanco, strictly for medicinal purposes, as he attempts to clear the cold I probably gave him. 


Dire Straits. The harvesters were rocking to a boom box. Fado? No, Dire Straits!

Blanco or Tinto? I tried one of my translation apps. I asked how long they age the wine, as what we sampled was quite young. He said it's all sold by March-April, the next spring. Lewis and John communicated reasonably well, as John has been practicing Portuguese on Duo Lingo.


Small plots giving way to large fields.

Olive Street Guest House. Our room was 2 flights up, with a shared kitchen and lounge on the 2nd level. The reception area was on the opposite side, where we could store our bikes without carrying them up the stairs.

We stopped for a great lunch at the Baja Cafe, just 25 feet from our lodging. The couple that ran the cafe had moved from Boston 2 years ago. The older gentleman, chef, was originally from Brazil. I had the fish stew, featuring two large pieces of a large white fish from the local river. John had the meal of the day, chicken, vegetables, rice, and fries.


Under repair. Many of the old churches and university buildings are under renovation.

Project for Michael? We both thought this would be a good project for Michael, building a custom craft beer bike. Of course he would add an electric motor, and perhaps, a chilling capability concealed in the lower platform.


Many fado street performers, but not always playing fado.

Thanks to Rick Steves, we found the nearby Canta Cruze Cafe, a former church converted to fado performances at 1800 and 2200. Buy a slightly over-priced drink and enjoy the show. I read that fado was a form of Portuguese blues, but the vocals were mostly ballads accompanied by two classically-sounding guitarists.


We sat in the back, by the entrance, the largest indoor crowd I've been in since covid. Made me a little nervous, but it did have high ceilings and good acoustics.

How about 4 Dogs of the Day?



My Favorite

Churches and Temples for All

Artisan. Using only his hammer and the small pieces of stone, this artisan was carefully chipping the pieces to fit precisely in this sidewalk. 




John entering the oldest university in Portugal



King João. Double for Henry VIII, same squat, wide profile.



Three Nude Dudes waiting for yogurt?

Amazon between the navigators?

Old Church beside the New Church

Former Bishop's home repurposed as the Coimbra history museum.












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