Last week, as I was heading to Barcamp08, I had the chance to take some snapshots of beautiful Coimbra. And it was indeed by chance, as the event’s venue was in the modern but remote Polo II, well removed from the city centre. Head in the clouds as always, I failed to check google maps before I left home, and made my way up the hill to the old University buildings instead.

Downtown Coimbra was teeming with strollers and shoppers, silently inviting me to slow down and enjoy the sun that was finally coming through the dissipating clouds. I did have some time to spare before the meetings, so why rush?

It wasn’t until I reached the summit of that very steep climb over irregular stone pavement, and dragged myself around the impressive university buildings in a wild goose chase, that I realised the department I was looking for was miles away.

My high-heeled feet weren’t too happy to find that I needed to walk all the way back down to my starting point and catch a taxi. But inn the end, the touristing around such beautiful surroundings, with my camera in hand, was worth the pain and made my weekend away just a bit nicer and richer.