Fatima

Off to Fatima today in scorching 38 degree temperature. The sudden hot blast came as a bit of a shock and we felt as if we were back in Turkey. Pedro assures us that this type of weather is much more typical of tours at this time of the year and I am so glad we have had it kinder throughout Portugal on this trip. The historic university town of Coimbra was our first stop after driving through the   Bucaco National Park. In the previous instalment I wrote about the battle of Bucaco, which was a turning point in the history of the nation. Wellington led a combined English/Portugeuse army defending the convent of Bucaco from Napoleon's invasion forces. The convent is situated on a hill in the dense forest and Wellington is reported to have hitched his horse to a famous olive tree after each day's campaign, proceeding then to tea and scones on the convent balcony to reflect on the day's carnage. As I said last time Pedro's recount of the campaign was hilarious; a comedy routine. Little Portugal's cowardly king fleeing to Brazil when things got tough, taking his entire palace with him and British military genius Wellington, administering victory surrounding by swooning nuns. A great example of how the tour director can make a place come alive.

The university of Coimbra's most impressive sight was the library, the biblioteque. It was just amazing to see the thousands of ancient books in this old space. Not one Harold Robbins though.

Michele bought shoes. Red. Two. Left. Right. Yay.

Following this we travelled a short distance to Tomar and the UNESCO world heritage site of The Convent of Christ, another "fall down from your chairrrrr" moment to quote our director. Wow. A convent originally, converted into a stronghold of The Knights Templar it blended military and religious in a mind boggling maze of chapters, battlements, transepts all surrounding a gothic chapel. Yep, I am running out of adjectives. Megadelicious. There. I just made one up.

Portugal has these amazing unknowns everywhere. Has anyone heard of Tomar? Or Batalha? Or Bucacao? They rival Notre Dame and the like and because of the Moorish history, they are so different.

Arrived at Fatima. Our hotel is opposite the basilica, so, well located indeed. We went to the candlelight procession which was spectacular, but smallfry apparently.

Next day we toured Fatima with Pedro, taking in the grand new baslica which is just enormous. Raced down to get a look at the replacement tree, the original one having been souvenired out of existence by pilgrims. Mary didn't appear on this one, but the location is identical and the shrine has been built around it. They are gearing up for the 100 year celebrations in 2017 already, with the square busy with cranes and bulldozers. Just cannot imagine how gigantaroso that will be.

The tour is racing to its end, but the sights kept coming today. We crept into a pretty nondescript town, being told to expect a surprrrize. Turning a corner the huge Gothic cathedral of Batalha loomed on the right. Another world heritage site. Beautiful. Better than Notre Dame because it sits in its original open space, surrounded by a vast cobbled court and not crowded in by buildings. We've seen a lot of churches believe me, so to be impressed at this stage really says something. Just magnificent.

Hot, hot, hot. High thirties again, so the only place I could manage in the medieval town of Obidos was the cool chapel come library. Browsed through lots of Portugeuse literature just to enjoy being out of the heat. I don't think I was fooling anyone. 

Short lunch stop in beachside Nazare, a touch of Oz here, a surf beach, Gold Coast style souvenirs shops and separate entrances to a unisex toilet. Try and work that one out!

Farewell Dinner in Lisbon was excellent. This was a really fabulous tour. Brilliant tour leader, friendly people from all over the world, good hotels, great cakes, sumptuous red wines, refreshing Sagres beer,

undercooked bacon, sloppy eggs, small elevators, exciting seat rotation, abundant shoe shops, free toilets, prolific cork. To sum it up in one word - mega-shebang.