Day 3 - Obidos - Nazaré - Alcobaça - Fátima - Tomar

Oy! Just a day into this tour and I'm exhausted. My body is reminding me just how out of shape I am. I spent most the night dealing with leg cramps. Two things; dehydrated and out of shape! Today I need to find some electrolytes to hopefully help with the cramp thing. 

We left Lisbon on our ultimate destination of Tomar. But before we get there we have several stops we have to make. I had a feeling I'd be as exhausted as I was after the Lisbon tour. 

Life on a group tour is not for the faint at heart. You're with these same people for 10 days. 40 of them. You hope that they are all pleasant and that you can spend so much time with the same people. We all know that can be a challenge for me. Our tour group was made up of 5 couples from Utah (well one of the couples was from Seattle) that had traveled together for years. And then another large group of 10 ladies from Canada. I was worried they'd be clique-ish and difficult to get to know. Turned out that was not the case. The Utah group had the most annoying Know-it-all; adult frat boy that existed. And unfortunately, he was next to us on the bus the entire time. 

You get a bus that Globus owns and maintains. As you enter the bus each day your name is on a list of where you sit. They rotate the seats so that everyone has a sense of getting a better seat. 

First stop, Obidos. 

What a quaint little village Obidos was. Though, I'll admit, it might not even be on the map if not for tourists. While it was full of small cobblestoned alley ways that lead to who knows what, it definitely felt like it was designed specifically for tourism. Regardless, I loved it. 

The Interwebs: The area of the town of Óbidos is located on a hilltop, encircled by a fortified wall. Óbidos remains a well-preserved example of medieval architecture; its streets, squares, walls and its castle are popular tourist destinations. 

We entered the walled city through this arch way that opened into a room with some beautiful tile work. 

Hassan, our Globus tour guide, walked us to the center of Obidos to orientate us to the town and then let us have free time for a couple of hours. That gave Janet and I enough time to wander through the streets.

Janet and I took the "high" road and headed up to see the castle section of the city. There really wasn't much to see up there, but we did get some amazing views and, oddly, found they had crabs too. 

The rest of our time we spent walking up and down the two main roads, stopping into shops as we went. 

The Church of Santa Maria

This little fella looked so relaxed on top of a car. I wanted to pet him, but as I got closer and put my hand out, this was the look on his face. I choose to not pet him.

We left Obidos with an injured member. One of the ladies from Canada had tripped in a store, or on the way out of the store, and broke her hand. She was a doctor so she got herself splinted, had some morphine in her suitecase, and off we went. She was such a trooper. She did visit a doctor at some point and got her arm/write in a cast for the rest of the tour. I would have demanded to send me home NOW. 

Next stop is Nazare (Naz - er- Ray). 

Nazare is best known for surfing and the LARGE waves that hit this region. It wasn't overly interesting to be honest, but it was sure beautiful. 

These tiles depict the Legend of Nazare. Hassan told us about the legend and inside the church is a beautiful painting of this as well. 

We left Nazare and headed to Alcobaca (Al-Co-Boss-ah) to visit one of the many monasteries. Upon arrival, however, there was a wedding going on in the chapel and we weren't allowed to go in. Bummer really. Instead, we were given more free time to have lunch. 

This particular lunch was amazing. Trying to order it was an adventure considering the owner of the cafe didn't speak English and we didn't speak Portuguese. Still Janet managed to get "ham and cheese" out and then pointed to a bread to us. Delicious. 

From here we headed Fatima. In Fatima we'd be touring the main pilgrimage area. Fatima is one of the many pilgrimages that are done in Europe for the devout. I didn't really know what to expect, and I can tell you, it was not at all what I expected. 

Interwebs: Fátima was named for a 12th-century Moorish princess, and since 1917 it has been one of the greatest Marian shrines in the world, visited by thousands of pilgrims annually.

On May 13, 1917, and in each subsequent month until October of that year, three young peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reportedly saw a woman who identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. On October 13, a crowd (generally estimated at about 70,000) gathered at Fátima witnessed a “miraculous solar phenomenon” immediately after the lady had appeared to the children. After initial opposition, the bishop of Leiria on October 13, 1930, accepted the children’s visions as the appearance of the Virgin Mary; in the same year, papal indulgences were granted to pilgrims.

The first national pilgrimage to Fátima took place in 1927, and the basilica was begun in 1928 and consecrated in 1953. With a tower 213 feet high, surmounted by a large bronze crown and a crystal cross. 

While we were there, we witnessed much of the devotion that is here. I, myself, do not understand this type of belief or the strength of the devotion, but I respect it and am humbled by seeing it. 

You see that white line to the right of the photo, that's a "path" for people to use to walk, on their knees, to the Shrine of Fatima. Yes, on their knees. We saw several on this path and I again a little humbled by such devotion and belief. 

The the right of this photo is where people were lining up to "light a candle". I'm not catholic, but I understand that lighting a candle symbolizes prayer, devotion, etc. Lighting votive candles became an issue in Fatima so this large candle burning furnace was built. People can purchase large candles and then line up to light them. 

At the Fatima Shrine in the Cova da Iria candles are lit every evening for the procession and there is a bank of lit candles near the side of the little chapel that marks the spot of Mary's apparitions in 1917. Many miracles have been recorded at the Cova which occurred during pilgrimages.

Next to this is the Shrine of Fatima. It's the location where the three children saw the Virgin Mary. There used to be a tree here, but somehow along the way the tree was removed and this Shrine was put up. 

The Basilica of the Holy Trinity. Not only is it a beautiful basilica, but it also has the tombs of the three children. The bell tower is 213 ft in height and is decorated by a crown of bronze that weighs 15,000lbs.

Inside is very simple. It's beautiful in its simplicity I think. The three children's tombs are in here and a wave of visitors pass by them daily. 

Once we finished in Fatima we headed to Tomar where we'd spend the night and in the morning we'd have a tour of, you guessed it, another monastery - even though the call this one a Convent - though no nuns lived there ever.