Lisbon Day 3

Sooooo much to take in. All of these things that I'm seeing are amazing. The sheer size of them all is enough to make your head spin!

Today was a loooonnnnnggg, hot and awesome day.

Started early in the morning. After having a horrific night due to the 1st migraine I've had in over a year, I woke up exhausted. Stupid headache. I wanted to get at least one good night's sleep in so I could kick the jet lag. That didn't happen, but luckily, the headache did not return today and I was able to nap in between trips. Thank god, otherwise I would've been useless.

Anywho, grabbed some breakfast @ the hotel, which was meh. But eggs n bacon were needed to provide energy for the day. I hopped on the metro (which is thankfully only a couple of blocks away) and went to the grayline for my trip of the day.

We headed to the medeival village of Obidos first. It is a small village that holds 200 people & their homes and is surrounded by an ancient wall and castle. It is considered very romantic as the houses are all white-washed with different colored trims and different flowers adorning the streets and walls. The streets are tiny and narrow and only a few can hold cars. But there are lots of little restaurants and bars for the tourist, as well as many tile shops to buy all kinds of art and various knick knacks. :) I picked up a set of salt & pepper shakers that are shaped like pigs. I couldn't resist. They are made of porcelain and hand painted in blue. Really adorable. I'm not really a tchachcki or knick knacky kind of girl. But I figure one day, I'll have my own house and can say - hey I got these when I was in Portugal! :) Obidos is just beautiful. Up in thountains and its own little world. I'd love to go back there some day and spend some more time as we only had about 45 minutes. But I managed to take a TON of pics, of course. ;) I learned that one of my mottos was the perfect thing - Always take the road less traveled. - when you get away from the touristy areas, you find the true beauty of a place. Sometimes not so much beauty, but the truth of the place itself. In this case, it was all beautiful and I'm so glad I got to go.

It was on to Alcobasa Monastery. A huge gothic church that was built alongside a monastery.

All this time I was worrying about my camera batteries cuz the bastard goes through batteries like water and Ihad to change them right after Obidos. I knew we had so much more to see, so I was trying to hold back my snap-happiness. That's not easy as Gothic Architecture is one of my favorite things ever, other than castles of course - lol. I'm such an architecture girl. I'd rather be outside seeing buildings than inside museums looking @ paintings. I'm weird, I know.

Anyway, Alcabaca has a really cool story that is loved by the people of Portugal. King Pedro I was married to a woman when he met the love of his life, Ines de Castro. They never acted on their love for each other. But when his wife died, they had several children together without ever getting married. The church frowned on this and it was a big deal in the 14th century, so they had her beheaded. The people were outraged by this and actually crowned her queen when she died so that she could be buried alongside Pedro when she died. So while it is a sad story, they are now together in tombs in the church of Alcabaca.

The church is HUGE. I mean I can't even explain the scale of it. It is also considered to be one of the biggest churches in Europe. The ceilings are unbelievably high and the church is very plain. There are few statues or ornamentations on the walls. Even the windows are stark and plain. They said that this is so that people could connect directly to God. It is really very striking and beautiful despite the lack of details.

The two tombs of Pedro & Ines are across from each other near the altar. The details on their tombs are so intricate. Many of the details and statues on the tombs have been destroyed as Napoleon came through and wanted to desecrate the church. In trying to do so, they cut off many of the heads of the statues. More on Pedro's tomb than on Ines'. Its very sad.

After seeing Alcabaca, we went into Navares for lunch. Navares was a fishing village on the Atlantic ocean. Still is to this day. We had lunch provided for us as part of the trip. It was great. We had Hake (which is a fish) traditionally made with salt and breading. Yummeh! With potatoes, salad and a rice pudding of sorts. Lots of wine was being passed around. i sat with a couple of people from the states. A couple from texas and a couple from Chicago. They were all here for a Pharmacist Congress. They were all very nice and were very interested in my singing and again - that I was there alone. There was also a woman from Romania @ our table. She spoke English very well. The other tables were full of people who spoke Portugese, French and Spanish. The guide was speaking in 3 languages - Portugese, French and English. Nuts. I can't believe how easily these guides do it! We all asked how she learned and she said that it is pretty much a requirement for everyone in Lisbon to learn English and Spanish and most learn French as well. Talk about good schooling. We barely learn one language in the US!

Navares is not the prettiest town. So I didn't take pics while I was there. We were up higher away from the water anyway, so we could'nt see much from the restaurant, but we saw a lot from the bus. And again, I was saving batteries. :) Plus, after seeing Cascais an Estoril, you can't really compare the beauty of it.

After lunch it was onto Batalha (pronounced Batalia like Natalia). Batalha is also a huge Gothic church. I think it looks similar to Notre Dame with flying butresses and the like. The details in this church were far more abundant and absolutely gorgeous. Especially on the outside. Stained glass windows, high ceilings, though not quite as high as Alcobaca. So awesome. I was so giddy. Of course, by this time, it was hotter than hell outside and people were starting to get tired. We left @ 9:00am and it was about 3:30. The heat and the sun can be opressive and really take a ton of your energy.

After Batalha, it was on to Fatima! FINALLY! Fatima is @ the top of a mountain. And it is beyond comparison. We stopped at the "factory" which is where they sell holy water from Fatima, religious relics, rosaries and all kinds of touristy things. They have it further away from the actual site as so many go there to pray and they don't want to be disrespectful. When we got to the main site which is where the shrine and square and actual site of Mary's appearance was, there was a mass going on. I got to sit and listen to them singing and just take in the peace that you can't help but feel. I walked around the square and took tons of pictures. I also drank from the waters of Fatima which appeared when Mary did for the first time.

For those of you who don't know. The site of Fatima, Portugal is where Mary, Mother of Christ appeared to 3 little shepherds. 2 girls and one boy. She appeared to them 6 times and told them to pray for the world and their sins. When she appeared the first time, a spring of water also appeared. The water is considered holy water. And you can fill your own bottles or containers with it. it is safe to drink, so I drank some to protect my throat and my voice in the future. :)

There is a shrine, which is the main church and a square that is absolutely huge. It hosts thousands of people every year who make a pilgrimage to the site. Many stay on their knees and do not stand at all while in the square. I saw many people doing that today. There is a smaller site where Mary actually appeared to the children which is where the mass was held. There is also a site to burn candles. Not light them, burn them. You throw them into a large fire in memory of loved ones. And then there is a new chapel that has been built to hold the thousands of people who visit every year on May 13th, to celebrate the anniversary of the 1st appearance.

It is all stunning and awe-inspiring. I went into the shrine after attending mass and burning a few candles. The peace is unparalleled. The 2 shepherds are buried there as well. The brother and sister Jucinta & Francisco both died very young, only a few years after the last time they saw an appearance. Lucia live until a few years ago. She was 97. The shrine is all white and so calming. By that point I was exhausted and so overheated. To be able to sit in peace and pray for my friends and family left me renewed.What an experience!

Tomorrow I have a day to myself in Lisbon, I'm all done with my planned excursions and tours. I want to go to Cascais on my own on Wednesday. So tomorrow I go up to Castelo Sao Jorge and the Se Cathedral as well as Belem Monastery. Since I won't be killing myself to get around all day, I'm hoping to go out to dinner @ another Fado club. :) Only 2 more days before I head home...