We awake in Porto, Portugal on Day 5, which also happens to be my birthday!! We leave early as we head to Lisbon by way of Fatima and Obidos. Did I mention that Portugal is an hour behind Spain? I am planning on a great day as I turn 65 in Portugal.

As we board the bus heading to Fatima, our Tour Director, Patrick, announces it’s my birthday and gives me several gifts. So, so thoughtful and kind of him. Wow.

Our first stop this morning is the City of Fatima. This was an important stop on my trip and I only wish it were longer. I believe we were given about 1.5 hours there on our own. There was no local guide to show us around. You may (or may not) know the history behind Fatima. In 1917 in the town of Fatima, Portugal the Virgin Mary appeared to three peasant children once a month for 6 months. Annually the number of faithful Catholic believers who visit this site tops 5 million. I am proud to be one of them. It is an awe inspiring site. It is actually quite large and takes your breath away upon arrival. In this article, I will refer to the entire site as the Shrine.

It was hard to manage my short time there, but I do believe I made the best of it. Before arriving at the site, our bus stopped at a very large gift shop where we were able to use the restrooms, pick up some gifts and order a coffee or other beverage. While there, I purchased several candles to light at the Shrine. Well, that was interesting. In most churches the candles are small votives or tea lights. Not here. They are actually what we might call large dinner candles in a light yellow or tan color. Once we arrived at the Shrine, I saw a roofed “building” where I could see flames. I assumed (correctly) that this is where the candles would be lit. When I approached this area, it was not too busy, later prior to leaving, there was a very long line of pilgrims waiting to light their candles. You can use another lit candle to light your own. If you look closely you can see that there are metal holders where you can slip your candle.

One thing, however, is that the candles that I purchased, along with many others, are too thin and either slip right through the holder or lean to one side. Many simply fall to the floor of this building. At either end, there are fires lit with very tall flames. Some people simply drop their candle(s) right into the flames. Others, like me, try to slip them into a holder so that they can stand up somewhat. I do not know how many candles were burning when I stopped there. But easilly hundreds and hundreds. Very impressive. In our Catholic faith we light a candle in memory of a loved one, when we ask God (or in this case the Virgin Mary) for help with something or for some other sort of petition. I try to do it whenever I stop at a Cathedral when I am visiting a new location. So this one was very special to me.

After walking around a bit, entering the Basilica to see where the children are buried, I found the numerous gift shops just outside of the Shrine area. I did visit and purchase a few gifts for family. We then all climbed onto the bus for our next stop.

It took about an hour or so to arrive at the picturesque town of Obidos. It is a lovely little medieval town, with a stone wall around the town, cobblestone streets and a castle. It has been around since the 12th century. We stopped here for lunch on our way to Lisbon. For such a small town, they have a few churches, many bookstores and lots of shopping. Something I did see in a number of places, are sardine stores. Sardines are very popular in Portugal, and they have stores that sell only sardines. All in all, it was an awesome stop and such a quaint town.

We all loved this quick stop, but were ready to start heading to Lisbon, so off we went on the bus. Here is a fun fact, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second oldest European capital city (after Athens). Who knew! We arrived at the hotel, only to be whisked off to dinner by the Tagus River. We were still celebrating my birthday with a seafood dinner to include crab legs and I was given a delicious slice of a chocolate layered cake, with caramel sauce. Really super delicious!

The following day, (#6) was another great day! This visit would include 2 days in Lisbon. We started with a stop to see two famous monuments. One was the Tower of Belém (Bethlehem) and nearby the Age of Discoveries Monument. Both are old and significant historic sights. The Tower is a 16th century fort that served as a point of departure and arrival for Portuguese explorers visiting India and the Orient. The Age of Discoveries structure was built in 1960. It celebrates Portugal’s 15th century “Age of Discovery”. During this time, explorers established Portugal as the most powerful seafaring nation of the time.

The day continued with a visit to the National Coach Museum. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Coach Museum? Well, we are talking here of horse-drawn carriages or coaches. These are old and very grand. There are all sizes and in many cases shapes as well. There are coaches used by Kings and others by Queens. Some for the King’s children while other were used as Ubers, well taxis anyway. 🤣 I’ve included several pictures. Very impressive!

And now the real fun begins. Well, so far the morning has been great. No complaints here. We drive outside of Lisbon maybe 30 minutes and we are at the Portuguese Riviera. Oh my goodness. It’s just beautiful. Lola (my cat) would love it. But I’m told it’s very expensive. In any case, time to explore. The drive is just spectacular with gorgeous homes and condominiums lining the road. We were dropped off in a lovely seaside town called Cascais. This was a lunch stop and everyone went their own way. I decided to start with a cute little pedestrian street and walked all the way to the top and it was just above the beach. I found a beautiful boutique hotel, used the bathroom [hard to find at the beach] and found their little restaurant on an outdoor patio with the beach below. Lovely! I ordered white sangria and oysters. Yum! Yum! There really was not time to do anything, so after lunch I headed to the bus, but not before stopping for a small cup of gelato.

It really was an incredible day so far, but it was not over!!! We got back on the bus and headed to a Portuguese Palace, a summer residence of the Portuguese Royal Family. This Palace, called Queluz (named after the city where it resides) is an 18th century marvel. It is quite large and has beautiful gardens. Much of it is in a bit of disrepair, and quite old, but it is something to see!

We returned to the hotel for a quick turnaround to dinner. We visited a typical restaurant with live Fado music. How do I describe Fado? I had to turn to Wikipedia for help, it is a music genre which goes back to the 1820’s in Lisbon. It is a form of music with mournful tunes and lyrics, oftentimes about the sea. A famous Fado singer was Amalia Rodrigues, whom we met (heard) via our Tour Director playing her music on the bus.

Yes, a long day. But one filled with wonder, beauty, history, music and the sea! Stay tuned for Days 7 & 8.

Day 5: 10,711 steps Day 6: 12,920 steps