Coimbra Local Custom Tips by arasnosliw Top 5 Page for this destination

Local wedding

The Capela de São Miguel (Saint Michael's Chapel), part of the University of Coimbra campus, is a popular place to hold weddings. The ceremonies here are notoriously colorful and full of tradition.

The wedding guests lay out black cloaks on the ground for the newly wed couple to walk upon when they exit the chapel.....The lovely ladies line up on one side of the church entrance. They're anticipating the exit of the bride and groom. On such a scorching summer day, everyone is sweating underneath the hot Iberian sun. The couple seems to be taking their time, so everyone is dripping in perspiration by this point.

Not only flower-girls get to throw petals on the floor. After the ceremony, everyone is waiting to throw these fresh rose petals onto the black cloaks and onto the newly wedded couple.

And the lovely newlyweds finally appear in the church entrance. Everyone's burning under the sun at this point, so they're all excited that the couple has finally exited the church. The crowd cheers in excitement while the the two duck because rice and rose petals are being pelted at their heads.

Now the chanting begins. The cloaks are hoisted up into the air repeatedly, some unfamiliar (to me) songs/chants are sung, and the couple laughs as party goes about doing so. Then the couple is whisked away in their car to their reception...and the story continues on...

Website: http://www.uc.pt

river bathing

Although Portugal's economy is not as strong as other Western European countries, it is far from being classified as a developing country. I was rather shocked to see the amount of people bathing in the Mondego River. I'm talking about a full-scrub, not just swimming around. It was interesting to notice the underlying poverty even in such a charming city like Coimbra.

"Sempre em frente"

As a foreigner, I've experienced a lot of troubles with directions when living in Portugal. I doubt this is a local's way of saying "I don't know," but every time I asked walking directions to any location, they would respond with "sempre em frente." Now that loosely translates to keep going straight or just ahead. I know that most places I was trying to find weren't just straight ahead. If someone doesn't know names of streets for you to turn on, they will simply point in the general direction of where you are trying to get to and throw you a vague "sempre em frente"....Thank them graciously for their ambiguous help.

"Queima das Fitas" (burning of the ribbons)

The first Thursday of May marks the beginning of the University of Coimbra's "Queima das Fitas" (burning of the ribbons) celebration, and it lasts until the following Thursday. There's a variety of concerts, a ball, and a parade. Whoever wins the concerts sponsored by each faculty is awarded with a briefcase full of ribbons.
The students wear the traditional black suit, white shirt, and cape.
It is tradition to cut slits at the bottom of the finalists' capes and they must sew it up with the proper faculty color thread.

A similar ceremony exists for students graduating. These students burn narrow ribbons in chamber pots of the color corresponding to their faculty, and they exchange them for wider ones.