Lisbon, Obidos and Evora, Portugal, Friday Sept 16 until Wed Sept 21
I am writing this on the bus as we leave Portugal and enter Spain. It’s been absolutely wonderful to be with such a great group of people from Lynchburg. We’re all having a fantastic time and it’s only just begun.
The group arrived in Lisbon on Saturday Sept 17 and we hit the ground running. We had one of the best guides, her name was Phil for short, we have ever had with us for three days. She not only knew the history of the various sites, but was very willing to answer questions about the current state of economic and political affairs.
Portugal was economically viable until the middle 1960’s because it still controlled so many colonies and it derived its riches from them. When they gave up control of the last one, they really didn’t have any other industries to replace that income.It’s a tricky time in Portugal politically right now as the party who received the most votes in the recent election did not have a clear majority and the other parties have formed a more liberal ruling coalition. There is grave concern that huge taxes are getting ready to be levied.
I’ve included pictures from Lisbon that include the Jeronimos Monastery with its lovely cloister and views of Lisbon from the river Tagus. We had a great boat ride on this river.
On our way out of town, we stopped in Sintra, the home of the royal family’s summer palace. It’s been 10 years since we were in the town and we were amazed at how many tourists were there. It’s an easy day trip from Lisbon. (Unfortunately, in my opinion, Lisbon is renovating the port so that it will be able to handle 9 cruise ships a day. Let’s hope common sense prevails and they will never allow that many to dock at the same time because it would be their eventual undoing.) I love the palace in Sintra. It’s small, simple elegance. I could very happily live there. I have included a picture of a home, or as they call palace for the larger places, with a black roof. Imelda Marco’s daughter lives there.
We left Sintra for Nazarre, a popular beach town and also home to some monster waves. Unfortunately, we missed the huge wave season by a couple of weeks. We had great ambitions to swim, but the Atlantic was freezing. I had the great pleasure to take a group photo when I knew this wave was getting ready to hit them. Lots of laughter and great fun. I have also included a photograph of a very elderly woman dressed head to toe in black which indicates she’s a widow because of the sea. When I passed her, she was pushing a black stroller back and forth singing to a baby. I wish I could have taken it from the front because it was such an endearing picture, but didn’t wish to intrude.
We left Nazarre for Obidos, a walled city known for its ginga, a delicious cherry liquor served in chocolate cups. It’s a lovely place to stroll and taste test. It’s hard to believe the sea used to be just outside the wall because its silted up 6 miles.
We had a leisurely morning and departed for Fatima and Evora on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Fatima was totally unexpected. I had anticipated a gothic style church with a large grassy area as the Virgin appeared to three shepherd children in 1917 in the fields. It’s actually two churches at each end of a massive plaza which is larger than St. Peter’s in Rome. One of the churches is very modern and the other is more traditional in style. The children are buried in the traditional church. A boy and girls died two years after the visions during the Spanish influenza. Lucia, the girl with whom the Virgin communicated, became a Carmelite nun and died when she was 97. There is a side chapel, the Apparition Chapel, off the plaza which contains a small hut the children used for shelter. It also has an altar and mass is said in this spot as well. Running down the side of the plaza there is a smooth surface approximately 5 feet wide which is used for pilgrims coming down on their knees. There are sinks in the bathroom which I guess are used for footbaths or knee baths.
Just before the Apparition chapel is a candle inferno, for lack of a better term. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a corner about 20 feet wide on each side and perhaps 8 feet wide. You purchase candles on the other side of the corner, the smallest is 10 inches for .50 euros and the largest is about 3 feet and perhaps 2.75,then proceed to the inferno to pray and place your candle. The fire is intensely hot. You’re supposed to light your candle from ones already placed there, but many were lighting them with bic lighters and then trying to place them in a holder or I just saw some throw the candle in the fire. If you have a prayer in mind, it quickly changes to “I pray I don’t get burned alive here” which uses up one of your candles, just kidding. I was told they reuse the wax to make more candles. The intensity of the fire, smoke and heat was quite thought provoking. It brought thoughts of Old Testament sacrifices to God, and prayers rising to God with the smoke and gold being refined in the furnace. I was very surprised at all of these thoughts which popped into my head.
Both churches have very modern interiors in terms of art. In the traditional church, the boy’s grave is on the right side and the two girls on buried on the left. I will be honest and say it really wasn’t my style and I wasn’t getting any kind of particular vibe from the place. When I stepped into the girls’ crypt area, I immediately had waves of goose bumps from head to toe, a sign to me that the Holy Spirit is alive and very present. It was truly an extraordinary experience for me and I know Cham was also very moved by the site.
After Fatima we headed for Evora, which is known for its cork, skull chapel and pregnant Virgin Mary. Traveling through the countryside, you see trees which have had about 6-inch-thick planks removed from the trunks. The first harvest is seen after a tree is 25 years old and it takes about 9 years to regenerate. As screw tops are replacing some cork stoppers, more and more cork products are hitting the market. I purchased a beautiful purse which is water resistant and can be cleaned with soap and water. They shave a layer of cork and attach it to a piece of leather which makes it pliable. Truly some beautiful items made out of cork.
The skull chapel was built by three monks who wanted to remind visitors of their mortality.
The cathedral was closed when we arrived last night so this morning before we left, a number of us walked up the hill to visit the pregnant Virgin Mary. Apparently, this is a very common portrayal in this region. She was presented on an altar, but the altar is facing one side wall near the middle of the church. On the column across from the Virgin is the Angel Gabriel. The Virgin is painted in primary colors and has her hand resting on her stomach. It’s really quite lovely and very approachable. Apparently she has become a pilgrimage place for those who want a child.
We have now crossed from Portugal into Spain and are headed to Seville, we have passed miles and miles of cork trees, grape vineyards and olive trees along with other crops such as corn.
Please go into Declan’s blog site at www.spainamdportugal2016.blogspot.com.es for another facet of the trip. Yes, the spelling is correct, it is a m between a and d.
Until later!
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