Category: travel

Visiting Coimbra, Portugal

On By Rick McIn books, travelLeave a comment

Coimbra is a popular stop for tourists coming to visit the archaeological structures dating back to the Roman era, especially the well-preserved aqueduct and cryptoporticus.

Monastery of Santa Cruz

It’s even more famous as the home of the University of Coimbra (1290), the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.  Its historical buildings were classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2013.

I bought a ticket to see the Joanine Library (Biblioteca Joanina), continuing my quest to visit all the most beautiful bookstores and libraries in the world.

It’s small, but well gilded. 😀

The most interesting part of the story is that this is one of the Portuguese libraries that encourages bats to make residence. The thinking is that they eat insects that might damage the ancient treasures.

Library on the left. By Dicklyon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Biggest man on campus. King Joao III (John III) 1521 – 1557.

Though King John accomplished a lot, the Inquisition was introduced into Portugal in 1536. Just like in Spain, the Inquisition was placed under the authority of the king.

In Portugal the first Grand Inquisitor was Cardinal Henry, the king’s brother

If Belgium was the most horrific European nation for brutalizing people in their colonies, Portugal and Spain were next worst. I blame the Catholic Church out of Italy equally.

Lisbon photos 2022

On By Rick McIn books, photos, travelLeave a comment

BACK in Lisbon to have a tooth implant installed, I posted some Instagrammy pics on Instagram.

Having visited most of the major tourist sites last year, I looked for less visited photo ops this time.

For example, I caught the ferry over to the former industrial suburb city Barreiro. I saw no other tourists wandering the streets that day. Augusto Cabrita, local photographer, cinematographer and film director is celebrated with this massive wall portrait.

Like last year, I took most of my larger meals at Time Out Market.

Many of my photos are of street art. I tried an experiment taking pictures of street art alongside REAL LIFE. One example.

The installation of my tooth implant was delayed by a couple of weeks. So I’m still not smiling in any photos prior to June 9th.

World’s oldest bookstore – Livraria Bertrand – Chiado, Lisbon

I finally got out to the Cascais beach area, about 45 minutes by train from the city centre.

Last night in Lisbon.

I feel more like a local than tourist.

Here are my Lisbon photos and video from November 2021.

My Dental Vacation in Portugal

On By Rick McIn cycling, health & fitness, hiking, travel3 Comments

UPDATE.

I can smile again.

After 9 months with a missing upper tooth, I finally got the implant installed June 2022.

Can you tell which upper tooth was replaced?

I never want to get another implant. WAY too expensive. WAY too time consuming.

But I believe they did an excellent job. This tooth should see me out. 😀

I got implant dental surgery November 11th at 11am. #NotChicken

I’ll update this post with details on how it went.

Canadian dentists are WAY too expen$ive.

Nations around the world that cater to “dental tourists” include:

Not Portugal. BUT I wanted to travel to Portugal for hiking and cycling in November. Also, it’s one of the most vaccinated large nations in the world during a pandemic.

Of dentists in Lisbon I looked at online, most impressive was the Institute of Implantology.

Here’s their Dental Tourism page.

I booked a FREE assessment appointment on my birthday:

  • November 2 ~ free assessment
  • November 4 ~ cleaning and measurement for ‘flipper‘ (temporary replacement tooth)
  • November 11 ~ implant surgery and placement of the flipper
  • November 15 ~ final checkout

The last 4 days in Lisbon were in case of complications. And that allows time to adjust the flipper, if needed.

Happily I had no infection nor swelling. And the flipper looks pretty good. Can you tell which top front tooth is now removable?

In fact, I’m as good looking as ever. … Ladies? 😀

I’ll return to Lisbon in 4-6 months to have the permanent fake screwed in.

The Institute of Implantology is not cheap. Price everything included for me will be about CAD $5000 (US$4000, EUR3490). Here are some of the major costs:

  • €160 CT Scan
  • € 160 Extraction
  • € 890 Implant placement
  • € 650 Bone Graft
  • € 280 Flipper
  • € 695 Instillation of implant

The bone graft encourages regeneration of bone and increases the odds that the tooth will stay in my skull for life.

The Institute of Implantology is the second private hospital I’ve used. The other was Shouldice Hernia Hospital in Toronto. Both are excellent. I wish I was rich enough to use more private clinics.

My surgeon was Dr. Gonçalo Caramês. Trained in Los Angeles, he married another dentist. They planned to set up practice in Seattle but he opted instead to return to Portugal because of the pandemic.

The facility itself is impressive. Chic. Very modern technology.

Visiting Valencia, Spain

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel, videoLeave a comment

I’d never been to Spain’s 3rd largest city, so jumped on the chance to catch a cheap flight down to the sunny Mediterranean coast.

The historic centre is great.

But the highlight for me was walking and cycle the huge green space that runs through the city.

It was once the river Turia, drained and rerouted after a catastrophic flood in 1957. The old riverbed turned into a picturesque sunken park.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I did make it out to the beach.

But best was exploring the City of Arts and Sciences.

Click PLAY or watch highlights on YouTube.

A TOURIST in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel1 Comment

I’d always planned to get to the Holy City on foot or by bike.

It’s one of the 3 Christian pilgrimage cities: Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela.

Pilgrims have been walking here for over a thousand years to pay tribute to the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

The Old Town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I’d originally planned to cycle from Porto, Portugal to Santiago. BUT there were no rental bikes available out of Porto. So I arrived (eventually) by bus.

YES I felt like a pretender. Tens of thousands of other visitors look legit — like this guy.

I stayed 3 nights in a magnificent building, Hostel Seminario Menor, one of the most important stops on the Camino.

I got some work done in my monks / College student private room. (19 Euros). And did a LOT of walking around the city.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

A huge surprise to me was to see a massive ultramodern complex called City of Culture.

It’s impressive. But generally seems to be considered a white elephant, not attracting the numbers of visitors anticipated.

See more architect drawings and photos.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Visiting Porto, Portugal

On By Rick McIn travelLeave a comment

I was happy to get back to Porto in 2022. It’s one of my favourite tourist cities. And is one of the fastest-growing European tourist destinations since Ryanair made it a hub.

Funky.

Along the Douro River is the place to be in the evening.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Livraria Lello Bookstore, Porto

On By Rick McIn books, travelLeave a comment

Though it’s a hassle to get a ticket, I managed to visit one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. Built in 1906, a mix of Art Nouveau and Neo-Gothic styles.

J.K. Rowling once lived in Porto, no doubt getting some inspiration from this magical setting.

She named Salazar Slytherin after the Portuguese dictator Antonio de Salazar.

Porto, Portugal

Tour Divide 2022 POSTPONED 🤨

On By Rick McIn cycling, hiking, travel1 Comment

I was hoping to cycle out of Banff in June 2022. START on the Tour Divide with the pros.

Ride to Montana. Do some hiking.

Then cycle to visit friends in Idaho.

But getting my NEW TOOTH installed in Lisbon, Portugal took longer than anticipated. I’ll be adventuring in Europe May / June 2022 instead of riding Montana.

HOPEFULLY I’ll be there for Tour Divide 2023.

Click to see a larger version of the Tour Divide map by Aussie Alex Hotchin.

Click for larger version

Norway Time-lapse Video

On By Rick McIn travel, videoLeave a comment

On my planned cycling month in Norway summer 2022, I’ll try to create as many time lapse videos as possible.

Most often those will happen early morning and in the evening somewhere near my tent.

Northern lights would be the ultimate capture.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.