Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Figueira Da Foz
for visit to Coimbra
Saturday 30th April 2022
 
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise in the port of Figueira Da Foz. We had both slept very well, hardly aware that we had been at sea for the 137 nautical mile voyage from Lisbon.
 
We decided that the trip to Coimbra was a must, despite the hour-long coach ride.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Joanine library on the left and the São Miguel Chapel in the centre.
 
 
 
On the left, a statue of King João III, who based the university in Coimbra permanently.
 
Entry to the Joanine library is on a timed ticket basis and we were slightly early, but we didn't mind waiting, because the views of the river and the town were rather good.
 
 
 
 
 
We entered the library down these stairs and exited it through the main door (see above).
 
We were permitted to take photos downstairs only.
 
 
No photography is allowed inside the upper part of the library, so we've 'borrowed' a few images to remind us of what we saw. Impressive... if you like that sort of thing.
 
 
 
 
São Miguel Chapel (where we were once again allowed to take photos).
 
 
 
 
 
Crossing the courtyard, we visited the university's Grand Examination Room.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A short drive from the university took us to the old town, where we were booked in for lunch at a local restaurant. Before lunch, however, we had some free time to explore. We really enjoyed our stroll.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We were starting to get hungry by now...
...and our restaurant was only a two minute walk away!
 
The restaurant did us proud. There was an awful lot of food and it kept coming! Thank you to Gareth for these two pictures.
 
 

The trip back to the port went quickly, mainly because we were all half asleep!
 
Arriving back on the ship, we decided that we needed to disembark again for a walk around the town to help us digest our lunch before it was time to eat again! As we left, we were asked to be back on board for a passenger meeting in the lounge at 5:00pm. We didn't give it much thought.
 
 
We smiled (wryly) at the 'Goods to Delare' sign, no doubt hastily put there to accommodate Brexit Britain.
 
The town was very quiet, but we liked it.
 
As in most of Portugal, the tiles feature everywhere.
 
 
 
We arrived back on board in good time for the mandatory passenger meeting, which is when we got the news that one passenger had tested positive for Covid-19 in the morning. All crew members were then tested while we were ashore, with seven of them also testing positive. A decision had therefore been taken to sail non-stop back to England, missing the remaining planned ports of call in Spain, France and Guernsey, all of which had confirmed that they would not allow us to disembark. We would therefore be arriving back home two days earlier than planned, not to mention the next 66 hours, during which we would be at sea. We were, of course disappointed, but we knew that this might always be a possibility, so we decided to simply relax and enjoy what was left of our trip.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Departing the port of Figueira Da Foz, for the non-stop voyage to Portmouth.
 
 
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble