The Traveling Blogcrastinator: Cloak and Swagger

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Today we will be heading to Porto on our bus. Silvia, our excellent guide from yesterday, will accompany us today, also.

Portuguese guitars
Photo from Wikipedia

On the way to Porto we will stop in Coimbra, a former capital of Portugal. Coimbra has many structures dating back to the Roman period, including an aqueduct. The Visigoths ruled the region from the 5th to the early 8th century, when the Moors arrived.

The Moors remained in control (more or less) for the next 400 years or so, until the kingdom of Portugal was founded by Afonso Henriques, who became Afonso I, the first king of Portugal. Afonso I was a larger-than-life character who influenced the course of Portugal’s history. (In order to consolidate his power, Afonso I defeated the armies of his mother, Countess Teresa, in the Battle of Sāo Mamede in 1128.) Afonso I made Coimbra the capital.

The oldest University in Portugal was established in Lisbon in 1290, but was relocated to Coimbra in 1308, and became known as the University of Coimbra.

The beautiful tiled roof of this university building appears to be even more colorful when it is wet.

Over the centuries, many interesting traditions have developed among the student body. Some are still followed today. For example, the students must wear a uniform consisting of a black suit, white shirt, and a black cloak (think Harry Potter). Upon graduation, the suits and shirts are hung on a gate or building and eventually burned. The cloak is kept by the graduate forever. Students will sometimes honor an individual by throwing their cloaks on the ground for the honoree to walk upon. Students can be seen on campus, wearing their cloaks, selling postcards and pencils to tourists to earn money.

Another tradition involves student singing groups. They sing fado music - emotional and poignant songs - on the street and in pubs and cafes. For most of the university’s history, all students were males, so the traditional singing groups are all male. They wear their cloaks and play traditional instruments, such as the Portuguese guitar. These groups are called tuna groups.

After a tour of the university, which was also being renovated, we went to a nearby venue for lunch. Cloaks were placed on the floor in our honor as we entered, and we obliged by walking on them. We were treated to some live fado music during the meal. Our lunch included a delicious soup and some bacalhau com natas (cod baked in a creamy sauce) with greens.

26 seconds of fado . . .

After lunch we returned to the bus to continue our journey to Porto. We finally arrived at Vila Nova de Gaia at 4:30, where the Viking Helgrim was docked, just across the Douro River from Porto.

We were sad to say goodbye to Silvia here. She was such a warm person, and such an excellent guide. But we were more than ready to board and continue our adventure. Boarding was quick and easy.

Viking uses smaller boats in Portugal than in other parts of Europe. Our boat has 53 staterooms on 3 decks. We therefore have slightly over 100 passengers, plus 35 crew members. The captain, chef and many of the staff members are Portuguese.

Our cabin was ready for us. It is a category PV on Deck 2.