11/3/2024

 

 

Sunrise over Lisboa

 

We had a very busy day, had no time to blog.  We finished packing, went to breakfast, got on the bus, drove 30 minutes toward Porto, turned back to get seven’s (Bob and Anna will understand that private joke) luggage, back on the road, arrived in Fatima 10 minutes before Mass.

 

 

St Sebastian (where we went to Mass on 11/1) on the way out

 

 

 

Paul and Naino had the same shirt ?!?!?

 

We parked the bus as near to the ‘doings’ as we could and made our way to the plaza via the WC’s. There were a lot of pilgrims. The line to place candles in the old church (on the visitation site) was several football fields long.  

 

 

 

Father Moises asked someone, and we wound our way to the Basilica where Mass was about to start.  We were not the only just-in-timers. The Basilica is on the other end of the plaza, and it is big – I mean huge – it seats 10,000!

 

 

 

Inside the sanctuary

 

The Mass was a ‘high’ mass – that is with smoke, 6 candles, 6 Assisting priests, 18 servers, a beautiful choir, and 20 Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist.  They were super efficient in all they did.  The Gospel was proclaimed in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. It was quite a moving Mass. There was palpable energy in the air and the Spirit was moving!

 

We had to get back on the road to make our way to Porto and get on the boat in time to board.  We had no time to explore, shop, pray or meditate at this most holy place. (Next time will be different.) We did notice a sparsity of tourist shops leading up to the plaza relative to other pilgrimage sites. 

 

On the road we were treated to the interior of Portugal.  We saw lots of trees, olive groves, vineyards and even a few cows (Paul won the cow game BTW).  An oddity we noticed were large nests in the power line stanchions.  Gunsoul (our most excellent driver) said this was the work of storks!

 

 

 

Stork nests along the way to Porto

 

We arrived in Porto at the dock shortly after 3:30. We made it a bit early even! Check in was really relaxed.  We just walked up the gangway, through 2 riverboats and onto the Sao Gabriel. We were asked for our passports and received our key. We then relaxed with the group for a few hours in the lounge area, ate some tea food (light sandwiches and sweets) and breathed a sigh of relief (as in now we can relax)!

 

Our luggage was delivered to the closet – I mean cabin – and we unpacked and stuffed – I mean stowed – our clothes and things neatly into every available nook and cranny. Then it was time to get welcomed by the Captain and his staff.

 

We were regaled by Captain Alfonso Ribeiro (a native of Porto), the Hotel manager, Maria Baptista and our cruise manager, Miriam Santana about the ins and outs of the ship – important information to know!  Miriam then gave us our first port talk – a long one about the two excursions.  The one we liked had a capacity of 30, and so there was a mad dash at the end to get signed up.  Shirley and Donna were almost the first in line, but we got in!

 

Dinner was served in the restaurant and was typical of cruises – a menu of the day (3 courses) and a standard menu (steak, salmon etc.). The portions were European, not American and so we left sated, not stuffed.  The menu of the day included Croaker, Langostino pasta and a vegetarian dish.  The ice cream for dessert was very tasty!

 

After dinner we went up to the moon deck (the sun wasn’t out) and did a few wheels.  Porto at night was beautiful.  Buskers plied their arts along the shore – there was even a fire juggler!

 

 

Porto at night

 

Then back to the cabin – and sleep!  Only 4528 steps today.