State Visit Day 3...Books and Bats

On the final day of the state visit The Grand Ducal Couple visited Coimbra.

They were warmly greeted by a group of Portuguese people that had worked in The Grand Duchy for many years. Later, Henri participated in a discussion on integration. Maria Teresa participated in a round-table discussion on micro-finance.

I was distracted from the points of the state visit while I was reading about the Biblioteca Joanina. From the photographs of the events the library looks fantastic. It houses a priceless collection of books. I was impressed when I read that the library houses a colony of bats that control insects. Every part of the library is geared toward preservation. The wood of the shelves keeps pests away while the paneling on the walls helps to control humidity. The heavy doors to the library are opened only every 20 minutes. Each night the priceless furniture and books are manually covered to protect them from damage from the bats. In the morning the leather towels must be removed from the furniture and the library is cleaned.

Wort has a series on the state visit and RTL has several videos covering the visit. Wort 1, Wort 2, Wort 3, RTL 1, RTL 2, RTL 3 and RTL 4. Revue and Tageblatt mention the visit. Additionally, many of the photo/news agencies linked in the previous articles have updated their galleries and information.

I apologize for the delay in updating. Some of you already know that I have been very sick lately. I have also been overwhelmed with my university studies and work schedule. Now that I am feeling better I hope to avoid any further delays. Thanks so much for all your well-wishes and concern!

I actually have several articles from over the summer that haven't found their way on the blog yet. I'll get to those early this week.