Aveiro - The Venice of Portugal

Estação de Caminhos-de-Ferro (Old Aveiro train station)

This weekend I am without my "Terrible Twos" Amalia and Alex (just kidding they are great) because they are visiting Barcelona. I was thinking of going with them, but flights just got to be too expensive as did the flights for France (one of my other possible options for this weekend). So, what did I do? Went to a random city: The city of Aveiro.

We have a few maps in our kitchen - of the world and of Portugal alone. After class Friday afternoon I came home and looked at the map, saw the city Aveiro and googled it. Aveiro is in between Coimbra and Porto and the ria de Aveiro is around the city. So this morning I woke up, got dressed, packed myself a chorizo sandwich and headed to the train station.

Igreja da Misericórdia

When I first arrived in Aveiro I asked for information on returning trains as well as a map of the city. The times on the internet aren't always the most reliable, and I didn't have time to write down any information about the city the night before because my internet was down. The train station didn't have anything - I mean, why should I expect them to have a schedule of the outgoing trains right? However, I stepped into a little newspaper / magazine kiosque that had some free packets for tourists. And that's what I was right? A tourist for the day. I ordered my galão like a non-tourist but then blew my cover by opening up the map that was filled with pictures of the top things to see in Aveiro. After this I set off onto the main street - Avenida Doutor Lourenço Peixinho.

It was super nice weather - around 70 degrees - and everything reminded me so much of a mix between Malibu, California and San Francisco. It was super strange to be reminded of home in such a random city, but comforting at the same time. I didn't see everything the tourist map suggested because honestly that was not the point of this trip for me. I enjoy being surprised, taking pictures of what I feel is interesting and taking in what's around me (not exactly going to search for it on a map). I saw the town hall, the Igreja de Misericórdia, Theatro Aveirense, Assembleia Municipal, The old train station, a gorgeous park Rossio close to the Central Canal.

"Do you see the Venice in me?"

Aveiro is called the "Venice of Portugal" because of the canal that runs through the city. Gondolas crowd the river, taking on tourists who want this Portuguese Italian experience. The city is by no way flooded, but I suppose it has it's own type of venetian charm - I'll let you know if I ever make it to Venice. Gosh, I don't travel anywhere... ;)

So I must confess that I did not only do sight-seeing and accidentally take pictures without knowing the black and white setting was on. I also did some shopping and took another galão break. All in all it was a great day. I rushed home, took a shower, and ate before heading to a church here in Coimbra with my friend Felipe. It is literally right down the street from my apartment. Even though I pass it everyday, I had never noticed it until I went tonight. The church is small, but everyone was super welcoming. Most of the people there are Brazilians so songs were a bit difficult to sing at first because 1 - it's in Portuguese, and 2 - it's in Brazilian Portuguese, but I think I'll be going back again.

At the beginning of my day and at the end as I was on the train home watching the sunset I started to think "Life here in Portugal might not be so terrible".

Abraço,
Tatiana