And now we move on to Portugal.... once we crossed the border we stopped for a rest stop and our guide recommended us to try the Portuguese egg tarts, and I had one of them together with an expresso (throughout the whole trip, I drank more coffee than I have ever drunk in an entire year, it was like I needed a booster everyday at least).
The day we crossed into Portugal also happened to be my birthday, 23rd Dec. So at night after dinner, went out into the town (our hotel was away from the city centre) with some girls from the tour for drinks. Was quite funny coz they managed to order a slice of cake together with a candle for me... after badgering the waiter so many times.... haha.... there's even a picture somewhere on Abby's camera with us and the "cute" waiter.



The next morning, we went down to the city of Coimbra which is the university town in Portugal (similar to that of Salamanca in Spain). It was a pretty steep climb up to the university campus, but from there you could get a pretty good view of the city and some interesting graffiti as well.

I didn't stay too long up on the hill but came down to the city square to look at the cathedral as well as wander along the back streets of the city. It was also here that I bought myself some dried dates and apricots since I heard that Portugal was supposed to be good for these things. Funny how when I offered them to other people on the bus, most people declined the dates, but all accepted the apricots.

After Coimbra, we stopped for a short visit at the Batalha monastery. It is a very big gothic monastery and one of national pride in Portugal. The famous Henry the Navigator is buried here as well, which explains its touristic importance. For the ignorant, Henry the Navigator was an important figure in the Portuguese empire and was instrumental in the start of the European worldwide explorations. Eg: Think Malacca, East Timor etc etc

Last stop of the day was at Fatima. Famous for the religious visions that took place there in 1917. It like the catholic mecca in that sense... many catholics came to Fatima every year as part of their religious pilgrimage and definitely has a very very important place for those church goers.... Before going on this trip, dad had already asked me to say a prayer for the family at Fatima so I did just that.... and it was a good thing it was winter, so it was unusually quiet which allowed me some quiet time just taking in the place.

Lighting a candle (s) for moi family...



Old Basilica

New Basilica

Port wine tasting enroute to the hotel in Lisbon.... no pictures inside coz maybe I was too busy tasting wine... but this wine urn outside is a real artefact from the north of Portugal which was once used to hold the wine... :P