Groceries, Coffee, and Boa Tardes: Life in Coimbra
Small errands, sweet treats, and the warm community vibe that makes this Portuguese city special.
On any given day here in Coimbra, Portugal, my husband and I have the option to explore one of the city’s many fascinating sites or to simply stay close to home and enjoy routine activities. More often than not, we opt for the latter. But once a week, we leave our sleepy neighborhood and venture 15 minutes down the hill into town.
Main shopping centers and malls here are often anchored by a single supermarket, or hypermercado. For example, when we visit The Forum, the complex which sits high on a hill overlooking the city, we buy our groceries at Continente. While these large markets do have organic sections, we also shop for specialty items at Celeiro, and often stop at Arcadia, where we can have a coffee and pastry, or soup and a sandwich, or a glass of wine and scrumptious chocolates.
Most recently, though, we chose to go to Alma Shopping. Its market is Auchan, a French-based chain also known as Jumbo. Like Continente, it offers not only groceries but clothing and household goods. While my husband filled his shopping cart, I stopped at the desk near the mall entrance to ask about the Cinema+Jantar promotion. I learned I can buy a ticket for about $10.75, and use it to both see a movie at the cineplex on the upper level and have dinner at any one of 11 eateries, ranging from traditional Portuguese fare to fast foods like Burger King, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut. The offer is good seven days a week, beginning at 7 p.m., and I made a note to see what films were being screened.
On the way home we passed Café Ti Gena, an upscale tea and coffee spot owned by our Lithuanian friend who offers sweet and savory treats like pastries and empadas. On our last visit there, we bought two of each, plus a coffee and a cold drink for less than $10. Since we hadn’t had lunch, we almost stopped for a snack, but my husband was eager to put away frozen foods, so we went straight home.
Later that afternoon he realized he had forgotten to buy two key elements for that night’s steak dinner: baking potatoes and beefsteak tomatoes. So at 3 p.m. we walked several minutes up the road to our combination grocery store/café. We waved to a handful of men seated at the front patio tables, who responded with a chorus of “Boa tardes,” and then we scanned the bulletin board by the door for information on local events. Inside, a customer was finishing a cool brew at the small bar. The proprietor smiled and nodded at us. Knowing my husband’s standing order, she moved to the espresso machine on cue, while he headed to the produce section and made his selections. After enjoying our coffee in the garden atmosphere of the covered rear patio, we paid at the register ($3.40 total) and walked home.
It’s a rarity for us to visit the city center twice in the same week, but the next day we were back again. My daughters had asked about my visiting them in California, so I had pulled out my American passport. Unlike my Portuguese one—which practically squeaks when it opens to show its lone official stamp—my American passport is a worn and heavy handful, loaded with baggage claim stickers and foreign visas. It’s also about to expire in a few short months. Knowing it can take some time receive a new one, it was essential to begin the process. So we returned to Alma Shopping and found Fotosport, where Leonardo had new passport photos ready for me in 10 minutes.
At the nearby post office, we scoured the shelves and located the proper envelope in which to place my online application forms and current passport for mailing to the American Embassy in Lisbon. Inside, we placed another envelope, prepaid, for use by the processing center in Phoenix, Arizona. This was our fourth visit to the same postal worker’s desk in the past several months, and although she speaks no English, she considers smiling and helpfulness a language of its own. I relinquished my carefully prepared package into her capable hands, and she confidently assured me that my envelope would arrive in Lisbon the following morning. I wished she could as confidently assure me that my new passport would arrive in my mailbox in six weeks.
At home, as I was setting up the backgammon board for our daily game, I thought again about my passport, on its way down south to Lisbon before winging across the Atlantic in a diplomatic pouch. Was it safe? Would I get a replacement before autumn? Worst case scenario, I could give my Portuguese passport a workout. It can use a little bling.
— Tricia Pimental, a former actress and Toastmaster, who has written two memoirs and a novel in addition to two books on Portugal.
Editor’s Note: Curious why Tricia chose Coimbra as her home base? Here’s more of her story:
It’s the small, daily moments that make a place feel like home, and Tricia’s Portugal has plenty of them.