Tue 3 Jun- 'Jardim Botanico' &'Quinta das Lagrimas'

Tue 3 Jun- after the included breakfast, it was a warm sunny day for a change, so we went to the 'Jardim Botanico' at the university, just up the hill from the hotel. We walked around, but most of the area was inaccessible (or we could not find the way in). The part we saw was very nice. Then we walked back through the 'Universidade Coimbra', established in 1537, but only a small portion of the original remains as a tourist attraction - busloads of tourists. Most of the buildings were of recent construction, and some had very interesting carvings in the facade to represent the division - physics equations, chemistry references, etc.
After that we walked across the 'Ponte de Santa Clara' bridge across the 'Rio Mondego' to the 'Quinta das Lagrimas' and its famous fountains, 'Fonte des Amores' and 'Fonte das Laguimas' (Love and Tears, love representing Queen Isabel's grandson's romance with Ines de Castro, and tears representing the murder of Ines later. The legends were new to us, but everyone in Portugal seems to know them - every town has streets named after them. (That Queen Isabel was Columbus's enabler for exploration.) The quinta (mansion or estate) has been around more than 700 years, but the gardens were not that impressive. The mansion was expanded into a 5-star hotel in 1995, and the restaurant is also famous. We had a nice beer in one of the sitting rooms, and it was quite elegant.
We walked back for more window shopping, but Kiyomi found a big book of Gardens in France, which she bought. She'll decide whether to visit French gardens, or Madrid and Barcelona. We picked up the shoes, repaired very nicely for E7, and the watch, repaired for E10. Stan got a much-needed haircut for E7. Then we went to the 'Adega Funchal' restaurant for dinner: 1/2 bottle of the house's regional Alta Beira 'Uniao' red wine E1.75, 'Soupa de Legumes caldo verde' (vegetable soup) E1.20 each; 'Dourado Grelhado no Carvao (grilled grouper) E6; 'Frango a moda do Alcobaca' (checken casserole) E7.5; total E21.80. The food was all excellent, a good value for the money. We picked up some nice port wine on the way back, and returned to the room for bath, a nightcap of port and chocolate.