Coimbra Botanical Garden in a Late Afternoon Watercolor
2022-11-12
This is the watercolor I made at the end of the day, at the Coimbra botanical garden. We were resting from our walk around the city, and ended up staying there, it was such a nice place to be. In the end, we rested in front of the fountain, right in the middle of the garden. After a full day of walking around the city, that quiet, surrounded by tall trees, felt really good.
I’d wanted to visit Coimbra for a while, and just hadn’t had the time. That day, it was me and my daughter, out for a wander around.
It was great seeing this old city, one that really revolves around its university. That makes a lot of things click into place. We went to the University, to Sé Velha, to the Santa Clara neighborhood, and wrapped up our walk at the botanical garden. It was really cool seeing Coimbra like that, so lively, with such a young spirit.
The botanical garden, actually, was born out of that same university. It was founded in 1772, during the Pombaline reform of the university’s studies. That only adds to the feeling that everything there revolves around the university.