Today is a two bus day! First we ride to Fatima from here in Coimbra. We gave ourselves about 5 hours in Fatima to review the miracle of the apparition of the Virgin Mary and the infrastructure built to consecrate the event, then bus two to Nazaré on the Portuguese coast to explore this once fishing village now surfing Mecca. I guess we are visiting two religious sights today, both with their own shrines and believers.
We picked a somewhat early bus to give us a good start on the day, 8:15am. We left our apartment at 7:25 for our short 10-15 minute walk. It was cold outside, 38. We stopped at an indoor cafe to wait out of the cold and had a cup of tea each (€2 total). About 7:50 am we walked the final 150 yards to the bus depot to wait. Our bus was on time, as all of them have been, and we were on our way to Fatima, about an hour away.
Dropped at the bus station in Fatima, I got lured into the gift shop at the station by a sign stating they gave away free maps. The clerk was frightfully helpful, whipped out a map and started explaining the whole Fatima complex, making marks all over the map. Then he informed me the map wa free if I bought something. hmmm. . . We left.
We walked to the massive sight. About 10 acres of paved plaza with an 8,000 capacity church at one end and the old church at the other. To the side was an open pavilion at he exact site where the oak tree stood where the Virgin Mary appeared to the three kids 6 times in 1917.
We got an actual free map at the information center and spent a couple hours touring the cathedral, the museum and the open square. Satisfied we had experienced all there was to be had, we stopped in a cafe in town for soup and bread, then back to the bus stop for our ride to Nazaré.
Our bus pulled in. A woman bus driver! First we have seen. A couple stops and we pulled into Nazare. It was about a 15 minute walk across town to our place. We called before starting our walk to be sure we could get in. She said she would be there, and she was. We arrived about 4:20pm.
We checked in then headed out for a walk on the water front. Amazing beach. Amazing beachside stroll. Other than a
delicious dark chocolate ice cream cone we had nothing to eat, although we did stop for groceries for dinner, the makings for stir dry.
Back in our place we veg’d in front of the news, cooked dinner and rested. Tomorrow it is up to the lighthouse to see where the big waves materialize.
The big church interior at Fatima
The plaza and church
Open church where the oak tree once stood.
Sally lights a candle for world peace
The path to approach the site of the seers on your knees
Inside the old church.
The three kids that saw the Virgin Mary 6 times
Boardwalk and beach in Nazare
Nazare Beach
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