Over 8 million people visit Fátima in Portugal, and I’ve visited TWICE this year, once in May and today. The story began on May 13, 1917, when three peasant children saw five apparitions of the Virgin Mary, on the 13th of the next five months. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos (who became a Carmelite nun… Read More The Fátima miracle
Yesterday was a transfer day, meaning several hours on the bus. We left at 9:00 am and didn’t arrive in Fátima until 5:00 pm! However, I’m grateful that our tour director planned a three hour stop in Porto, one of my favorite cities in Portugal. When we arrived in Porto, we walked across one of… Read More We are in Portugal!
48 hours … that’s about how long I have to do my laundry and repack my suitcase before I head to California for my grandson’s birthday. I walked in the door of my apartment last night about 9 pm, having gotten up at 5 am London time at the Renaissance Hotel, staying up all night… Read More 48 hours!
Our hotel, the Hotel Fátima could not be any closer to the site where the Miracle of Fátima occurred. In fact, I could hear the priest chanting and the organ playing from my hotel room. We arrived in late afternoon and Pedro, our guide, quickly gave us an overview of the site, when I took… Read More The Fátima experience
If I had to choose one place to come back to again in Portugal, it would be Porto. We arrived yesterday afternoon and went out for a 45-minute boat ride on the Douro River, with cool, breezy winds brushing our faces and seeing picturesque buildings which could be reflected in the water, a gorgeous day,… Read More Glorious Porto
Today was billed as some of the prettiest scenery we would see of the trip. Along the way I was luckily seated on the right side of the bus for some spectacular views of the hillside vineyards of the Douro Valley, where port wine is made. Bear in mind that all these photos were taken… Read More On our way to Porto
This morning we stopped at a cork tree grove and our tour group leader, Pedro, warned us that there were land mines in the field. I was a little worried that Trafalgar would put its guests in danger, but as we learned, the cattle grazed among the cork trees only a few minutes before our… Read More Beware of land mines!
This is my first Trafalgar tour, and my first experience with rotated seating on the bus. What that means is that on each day, there is a seating chart. With each succeeding day, your assigned seat moves up two rows, and on the 5th day “Best of Portugal” tour it means that Jo Ann Condry… Read More In the front of the bus!
I was almost feeling human today, this being my 9th day in Europe. I went to bed about 10:30-11:00 pm and woke up at 4:30 am—just about my normal routine time at home. It was a little overcast today but we still saw some absolutely spectacular scenery in the Algarve region. Our first stop was… Read More Cliffs, caves, church, and chimneys
And … yesterday’s long day wasn’t over yet! After visiting the monuments, the monastery, the Cascáis church, and the Sintra National Palace, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening dinner and fado music. Fado, as our guide explained, means “destiny” or “fate,” and the music can either be happy or… Read More Not over yet !