May 17, 2011

The day started with the mundane:  find a laundromat to do a quick wash for the rest of the trip and find the place where we can get the glass replaced in the wing window.  We found the laundromat without too much trouble although their window really was advertising dry cleaning.  I had to convince Mario they were not going to dry clean his boxers and I had an interesting conversation with the woman in charge who wrote down every piece of clothing we were bringing in to wash.  She did not speak any Spanish or English and again, I muddled through with limited, very limited Portuguese and lots of hand signals.  Tomorrow we will pick up the laundry, I hope.  Next we went to find the Glass Express to replace the window.  Eduarda, the hotel receptionist, had done a lot of prep for us on the phone after we realized that the place we had the appointment with was more than 40 miles away.  We found a closer location.  The solution was to put in an acrylic piece into the window as a temporary, but satisfactory fix.  That was 25 Euros and about an hour's wait at the garage.  They were super efficient and really nice.  Then we left for Fatima, about an hour away.

We had a phenomenal day at Fatima and were so blessed to have few tourists and great parking.  May 13th is the annual celebration at Fatima and there are always hundreds of thousands of people at the shrine and in the little town.  Since it was over a weekend, and Monday was the 16th, we were some of the few to visit after the big celebration.  We got to pray the rosary in the chapel, in Portuguese, and attend Mass at 3 in the afternoon.  We lit candles for our Emmaus community, for all our families and friends and one for our little family of three. We took lots of pictures, bought lots of little mementos and left around 6 in the afternoon.  We spent 5 hours at the shrine.  If we had gone with a tour, it would have been only 2 hours and I know we would have been rushed.  It is immense and we did not see a lot of it.  I don't know how people can get through it less.

Tonight we saw a little of Lisbon which is a very cosmopolitan, sophisticated city, thanks to our cab driver, Luis.  He is very proud of his city, his nationality and heritage.  We went to dinner in a minimalist, very modern restaurant called Bocca.  Rodolfo, the hotel clerk had recommended it.  It is nouvelle cusine.  Great food, beautiful atmosphere and a bit pricey, but worth it.

Tomorrow we will leave for Seville.  It is a five hour drive and we have to turn in the car.  That will be an interesting conversation.