We started the day by checking out of our hotel in Lisbon, from where we headed North to Obidos, a city or town that is completely surrounded by medieval walls. It reminded us a lot of San Geminiano in Italy. We went in this quaint store full of brick a brack where we were served some ginjinha a Portuguese liquor made with cherries. It was tasty with a bit of bitterness but at the same time sweet. Since we only have carry on for our flight we didn't but any.
Afterwards we had free time to visit the rest of the walled city. Towards the far end we found an old church that had been converted into a bookstore. It was a pretty unique store. We entered a couple of churches.
Our next stop was Nazaré which is known for its high waves for surfing. Basically we had time for lunch and a short stroll on the beach to watch the waves. Jacques had octopus and I had the calamari skewers for lunch. It was delicious and we would eat here again if we ever come back.
We then moved on to the North side of the cliff where the waves are supposed to be much higher but we didn't make it all the way down to the lighthouse. There was not much time and the rain clouds were moving in fast. Until 2010, Nazaré was a fishing town. That all started to change when Garrett McNamara came to Nazaré to explore the big wave surfing possibilities. In 2011, he broke the world record for the biggest wave surfed when he surfed a 78 foot wave. That record was broken twice since then with Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa surfing an 80 foot wave in 2017 and then Sebastian Steudtner with an 86 foot wave in 2022. Surfing those big waves, they reach speeds of up to 80 mph.
We arrived at our hotel in Fatima around 5:30. Even though we were only 5 minutes away from the site there was not much time for those who wanted to go to the 6:30 mass. We had to check in and then get in line for the elevators which are not very big.
We visited both basilicas as well at the church where the original sightings of the virgin Mary occurred. We also saw the place where people were arriving with armloads of candles to light for intentions.
We then decided to go for supper since it was getting late. We couldn't find anything open so we finally decided to stop in a bar which offered snacks. The bartender told us that there was a restaurant in the backroom of the bar. The door was not obvious but we found it and settled at a table. The waitress had a minimum of English but between her limited English and my very limited Spanish we understood that she was suggesting a plate to share. It was a Portuguese cocido. We couldn't believe the price when the bill came. We had olives, bread, salad, rice, fries 2 pork steaks, 2 sausages, 2 boudins, 2 slabs of pork belly, beef, chicken breast and a litre of wine all for the grand total of 27 euros.
Fatima is not a place that we would want to come again. It is very commercialized with stores everywhere selling cheap religious articles for high prices. Apart from the square where both the new and the old basilicas are, the town has not much to offer.
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