Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima

Day 3 of my Globus Northern Spain tour. Today we left Lisbon and drove first to Fatima and visited the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima (also known as Our Lady of the Rosary), located where the Virgin Mary appeared to three shephard children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917. The children were told by the apparition that her last appearance would be on October 13. About 70,000 people gathered and some reported that the sun behaved in an unusual manner––called The Miracle of the Sun. Photo: the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Chapel of the Apparitions

A small chapel, the Chapel of the Apparitions, was built on the site where the children saw the apparition of the Virgin Mary. The chapel is enclosed in this basilica.

Lighting Candles at the Sanctuary

You can buy different sizes of candles here to light.

Pilgrims

The sanctuary is a pilgrimage site, with 6–8 million pilgrims coming each year. We saw several pilgrims were walking to the basilica on their knees, a sign of piety.

Fatima Souvenir Stores

Near the sanctuary were a large number of souvenir stores selling religious items and very long and interestingly shaped candles.

I have put my photos of Fatima on a slide show. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/fatima–sanctuary–of–our–lady–of–fatima/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Portugal, “Fatima”).

Portuguese Countryside

From Fatima, we were heading to Porto via some very beautiful Portuguese countryside. This photo and the next one was taken from the light–filtering windows on the bus and, hence, the colors are off.

Wine Country

We drove past some of the Portugal vineyards.

Porto

Porto is the Portuguese pronounciation and Oporto is the English pronunciation of this city, so you will see it referred to under two different names. The city is located on the Douro River and the historic area covers both sides of the river.

Porto

View of one side of the river.

Porto

View of the other side of the river.

Porto

We walked on this side of the river. The boats are called barcos rebelos, flat sailing vessels that were used in the 13th century to transport barrels of wine produced in the Douro Valley.

Sandeman Port Winery

We visited the Sandeman port winery. Sandeman was established in 1790 by George Sandeman, the son of a Scottish cabinetmaker.

Sandeman Port Winery

“The Sandeman Man,” created in 1928 to represent Sandeman. He wears a long black Portuguese cap and a Spanish hat.

Sandeman Port Winery

We had a tour of the winery and learned about port. Port is a Portuguese fortifed wine and produced with distilled grape spirits and, in Portugal, produced only in the Douro Valley.

On the Riverside

My tour group left this area after the Sandeman tour to visit the Stock Exchange with its absolutely beautiful Moorish–style room. I had been there on my last trip to Porto. We were not allowed to take photos of it, but I heard that some people on my tour were taking photos. I wanted to see more of this side of the river and also to eat dinner here and to do some shopping. When I was finished, I took a fun tut tut ride back to my hotel.

I’ve been to Porto twice, both on Globus tours. But we stayed only a very short time each time. Many people spend much more time in Porto on their own as it takes some time to see all the sights that the city offers.

I have put my photos of Porto on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/porto–oporto/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Portugal, “Porto (Oporto).”