Fatima

We visited the religious town of Fatima. 

It became famous in 1917 when 3 children tending the family sheep saw a series of visions of the Virgin Mary. 

An entire industry, both religious and commercial, has grown up around this sequence of events. 

All of this was built on the site of the apparitions.

Every evening, they have a series of ceremonies.

Other than the regular services in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, there are candle vigils that take place in the grounds.

One involves the people gathering around with candles while an open air service occurs.

The other is next door, where there is a large furnace. With this one, people light candles for a loved one, and throw them into the furnace, which seems to be going 24-7.

Oddly, they do not stop at candles. Near our hotel are a series of shops that sell assorted religious trinkets, as well as candles and rosary beads of all designs and materials.

Also, there are wax effigies, also to burn. There are babies, hands, legs, boobs, internal organs. Truly bazaar.

Is somebody praying for a boob job? Probably not.

Then we started seeing these pairs of candles, probably 2-metres tall. Taller than me.

Clearly, at least here, size does matter.

One thing Fatima is famous for is what’s called a call to penance. 

In this, they make their way on a 600m journey across the courtyard. On their knees. This can happen at any time, including during a service. 

Oh, I Almost Forgot

Stopped into the university town of Coimbra  

Echos of Harry Potter here, with students wafting about in Hogwarts-esque black robes. No great surprise, as JK Rowling began writing Harry Potter in Portugal.

A rather impressive university at the top of the hill, the basis of which was a royal palace.

The library of this university holds ancient texts, and has never let students or faculty read them unsupervised. They now protect it to the point that visitors, including tour groups, can only be inside the rooms for 10-minutes, so as to minimise atmospheric impact. 

Apparently, the recent ‘Beauty and the Beast’ movie used a replica of this library, with only the addition of a fireplace. Something never found in a room full of old and combustible paper. 

Then we went down into the town for lunch.

Saw these ridiculously large meringues in a shop window. Invented in New Zealand, something this big is definitely not a first date delicacy.

In the same window, a large fruitcake with an industrial strength proportion of cherries.

Another sardine store. This time we find what they call Portuguese Gold. Sardines that are skinned, boned, and sprinkled with edible gold.

You can buy a box of 4 gold bar-shaped cans for, I think, 88 euros. 

This really is the perfect present for that person who has everything. 

But wait, there’s more…

We moved on to a town called Tomar, where the Templar Knights had their base in Portugal. 

When the Templars were destroyed under order from their largest creditor ( the 4th king from the left) as a means of reneging on his debt, the surviving knights reimagined their order as ‘The Order of Christ’

The only way to get there is a sequence of three long flights of stairs. Not a defib machine in sight, but I did it anyway.

Steps, granite, sandstone, cloisters. Yada yada yada. Same same. 

And then there was this…

 By Hokey, that is an impressive room.

Photos don't do it justice, but the detail here really is exquisite.

A step above other similar buildings so far.

There's also some quite impressive detailing on some exteriors as well.

A spiral staircase is tricky out of wood today. Doing it in stone a zillion years ago would have been a head-scratcher. 

The other end of the Douro River

 Went for a boat ride up and down the river.

Lots of bridges. Viaducts and bridges. They’ve found their groove. 

A few kids who are clearly unsupervised, like to do a higher dive than most pools would allow.

Hopefully they have done their research and found a part of the river not used by the many tourist boats plying their trade up and down the river. Otherwise they might land on top of a vessel they didn’t see coming, or worse, land directly in the path of an unforgiving bow.

The flashest Macca’s in the world

 In the middle of Porto are many, many historic buildings. One of them was bought by McDonald’s, under the proviso that they keep the elegant interior intact.

Do you think they have succeeded?

They occupy the ground and lower ground floors