The city of charms

The banks of the Mondego perpetuate the tears of lovers, as legend goes of the unfortunate loves of Prince Dom Pedro and Inês de Castro. The forest of Choupal further contributes to the myth of an exacerbated romantic city, immortalized by poets, who poured in long verses their vows of undying passion and amorous misfortunes. When crossing one of the bridges of the city, is also mandatory to visits the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, where our own Queen Isabel, the saint lived, the wife of Dom Dinis, after the king's death, as well as its enhanced version , Santa Clara-a-Nova. Another curiosity is one of the remnants of the Estado Novo, Little Portugal, it is a theme park built by Salazar to show the young the history of the Portuguese empire. As promised, let's talk about one of the most memorable moments of the Academy of Coimbra, the burning of the ribbons. It owes its name to a symbolic ceremony involving burning of all traces of the college past and tear of its academic attire, that is, when a student finally ends its course burns of everything, because they begin a new phase of their lives. Over eight days, beginning with the serenade in the monumental Cathedral, students celebrate with great profuse joy and a parade their university experience. There are dancing nights in all faculties, Coimbra fado in taverns throughout the city and concerts of Portuguese music in what is considered one of the biggest events of the country's youth. During these celebrations there are no classes and the young seem even creatures of the night, because in addition to the uniforms with their black cloaks, the revelers basically only come out at night, like bats, because they sleep during the day. It is also a time of excesses in terms of alcohol consumption that only has a parallel in Beer Week in Frankfurt. It is a time to welcome those who come to the university and a time of farewells to those who complete their academic course, which is why they sing that Coimbra has more charm at departing.