The University of Coimbra is atop a steep hill. Some walk; the wimps take the elevator, and enjoy
great views back down toward the lower town.
How thoughtful: a whole street named after us.
Frat houses are a good deal older than our greeks. And frat houses in Coimbra are as brainless as those in the US, but they don't know it. This one, the "Royal Commune of the Pirates of the Islands" offers
this penetrating analysis of economic and geopolitical issues of our day. How original and perceptive the students must be to recognize the essential links between McDonalds (there goes that big mac thing again), global prosperity, and deadly militarism.
And the students bravely declare their commitment to peace by hanging someone in effigy. We were unable to identify the (no doubt deserving) victim, but presumed it to be an American. In the words of Joan Didion, "Everybody agreed they were trying to make a point. But nobody knew exactly what point it was."
But to prove that left-wing "progressive" youth has no copyright on criminal stupidity, here is a work by the right-wing dictator Salazar. He razed half of Old Coimbra (which survived hundreds of years of warfare between Christians, Moors, Spanish, and French) in order to build this and other blocky Mussolini era monstrosities.
His fascist-heroic (indistinguishable from socialist-heroic) sculpture stands in blank contrast to the lovely facades of the few ancient buildings he spared.
The "Iron Gate" of the university has welcomed new and disgorged old students for centuries. They enter to register, and exit through a gauntlet of butt-kicking upper classmen.
The university courtyard and tower.
The university houses one of the finest baroque libraries in Europe. Regrettably, the librarian says no photos inside, so
here is one from Wikipediacontinued
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