mission picture contest. category: Coimbra (3rd area)

"Coimbra...tem mais encanto...na hora...da despedida..." I was in Coimbra for 6 months of my mission and I have the thousands of pictures to prove it! Coimbra is a beautiful city on a hill, with a river running by. Just about every building is hundreds of years old so it has that old European feel to it. People sing and play instruments on the cobblestone streets, large cathedrals full of history and stories of Kings and Queens fill the skyline and forests with castles surround the city known for one of Europe's oldest Universities. It was a dream!

Here you can see how small some of the little streets are below.
At Coinimbriga, ruins of an ancient roman city.
Me sharing the gospel with Zé, the shoe-shiner of Coimbra.
What a beautiful city!
These romantic little streets can sure give a girl some exercise!
Batalha, a cathedral just south of Coimbra, resting place of Henry the Navigator and his family.
At the Ward Party/Discoteca. The Portuguese sure know how to have some fun! I just love these people!
Desiree, me and Aysu
I LOVE this picture. This is when we were all in a museum and my companion just so happened to snap the picture right when I was moving in for a good look at some ancient roman coins. Unfortunately, I somehow moved in too close and hit my head really hard on the glass. There was no hiding it either. They were all laughing at me! Nice timing, Sorensen...

I just love these type of trees. At the Quinta das Lágrimas.
These next two pictures show what we did to entertain ourselves on early morning train rides to Figueira da Foz.
This is what I love about Portugal. I don't think many people realize how beautiful it really is! The northern half of the country (where I served) is cities in between beautiful rolling hills of green forests and trees. I think that is why there are so many castles in Portugal...you can see for miles on top of one of those things!
The District of Coimbra. Just being our goofy selves!