When I first visited Portugal in 2011, I had planned to stop in Fátima between Lisbon and Porto — but not for the typical reasons. Fátima is a Catholic pilgrimage site where the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared in 1917 to three shepherd children (see the last photo), but I didn’t know that in 2011.
The real reason why Fátima was on my Portugal list is because my auto mechanic in Toronto is from Fátima, and he was adamant that I go, without explaining why. If you’ve been reading along since my Toronto days, you will know how often my car was at the 24-hour Portuguese garage. I’ll tell you: far too many times — I drove more than 100,000 miles (160,000 km) in the 7.5 years. But this time was different, because I told them I was going to Portugal. To make a long story short, in 2011 I didn’t go to Fátima because I went directly to Porto instead and the rest is history….
Except, somehow, it took five years to get to Fátima. Note to self: next time I’m in Toronto, tell Bento I finally made it to his city.
I have more to say about Fátima, but it will have to wait. For now, just a few pictures.
July 31, 2016
Album: Central Portugal
