Coimbra, Portugal. October, 2009

Ah, parks. The refuge of the weary traveler. Like this one in the central Portugal university town of Coimbra. After a morning run through the fog along the river, a filling breakfast at our hotel, we’d had a lazy Sunday morning stroll in this nearby park. And though this photo would seem to indicate otherwise, we were not alone. Families gathered after church. Solitary individuals reading the paper. Others who knew what we did -- that a quiet park is just as important a destination sometimes as, well, as almost anywhere.