Great Escape Day 1

Okay. So, I’m back. Your vacation from my imperfect reflections is over. I have a genuine conundrum to address that I don’t think I possess the ability to adequately do so. I’m going to try and describe how special the past 10 days were. Again, not something I believe I can properly do. That’s never stopped me before, so here it goes. To avoid one of those mongoso posts that I am justifiably infamous for, I’m going to break up the trip into posts describing each day. They’re still going to be long, but I think I can do it in nine posts to provide a glimpse of the special time I just experienced. As much fun as I had, it was transcendental for my Favorite Panamanian (dedicated Catholic that she is). I’m going to make liberal use of some of the many photos and videos that I took (I hear they’re worth a thousand words). I’ll need that help because we traveled about 1,430 miles over those 10 days (not counting the air travel), saw three different Marian apparition sites (one when she was still alive!), stayed at six different hotels, and made some fabulous new friends.

1st Stop in Portugal

Our trip started on October 1^st with a trip to Logan Airport where we linked up with the other members of the group we traveled with. We were all traveling on the same red eye flight to Lisbon. We arrived in the pre-dawn hours at the surprisingly small and virtually deserted Lisbon Airport. We made it through customs and baggage claim to emerge into the terminal expecting to link up with our guide and bus. By the time we had the entire group out, neither had appeared. I attempted some reconnaissance and found a bus parking area, but nothing was there. I (and the rest of our group) began to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. Just before panic set in, our guide, Jose, appeared and directed us to the recently arrived bus. Our flight had arrived forty minutes early and luckily, he lived close enough to the airport to dash in when he heard.

1st Photo in Portugal at the Airport

Beautiful Sun Rising as we Leave Airport

Sun Rising at Observation Park

April 25th Monument

Despite operating on virtually no sleep after our overnight flight, we had a full day scheduled. It started with a quick tour of Lisbon. The sun was just coming up as we pulled out of the airport and we watched the full sunrise from the Observation Deck Park for King Edward VII (yeah, they created a huge park for an English king). The park was impressive and included the Monument for April 25^th which commemorated achieving freedom from a dictatorship. The park offered amazing views of Lisbon. Our next stop was near the Lisbon waterfront where we saw the beautiful gothic Jerónimos Monastery. We didn’t tour inside as our guide took the group to experience a special Portuguese pastry. My Favorite Panamanian and I decided to pass on that and walked through a beautiful garden park nearby.

The Park Looking Towards Central Lisbon

Trying to Snap the Photo While the Flag is Visible

Ancient Castle on Far Ridgeline

Picturesque Lisbon Streets

Very Cool Aqueduct in Middle of Lisbon

Jerónimos Monastery

Our Walk in the Park

After that walk, the group re-assembled, and we drove the short distance to the Monument to the Discoveries. This is a truly impressive (and massive) statue dedicated to the many Portuguese figures who led many of the most important discoveries in history, guys like Vasco de Gama (one of the coolest names in history). The monument was led by Prince Henry the Navigator and was placed in the general location from where many of those discoveries set out. The monument featured Henry pointing and he was accompanied along both sides of the monument by representations of the many important historical explorers. Our guide Jose, a proud Portuguese himself, declared the monument was the source of great national pride (justifiably).

Monument to the Discoveries

One of Main Bridges into Lisbon Engineered by Same Guys 
That Did the Golden Gate Bridge

One Side of the Monument to the Discoveries

The Other Side

This concluded our tour of Lisbon, and we set out for our day 1 objective, Fatima. We made a stop along with way in a beautiful, medieval town of Santarem, considered the Gothic capitol of Portugal. Because the streets were so narrow, the bus had to leave us off at a park and we walked those very cool streets to the Church of the Eucharistic Miracle. The miracle refers to an object that has resided in the church since the 1200s (wow!). There is a fascinating story associated with this object. In the 1200s, a woman was mistreated by her husband. She became so depressed about her situation that she went to a witch. The witch said the woman needed to bring a piece of the consecrated host from the next time she attended mass so a conjuring could to created to address her situation.

Walking Streets of Santarem

Church of the Eucharistic Miracle

The woman received the holy bread and hid it in her veil to smuggle it out of church. As she was leaving, other people thought she was injured because blood was streaming from her veil. She rushed home and secreted the host in a chest. Late that same night, she and her husband were awoken when the chest and their entire house were shining brightly. The woman admitted what had happened and the local priest secured the host, which continued to bleed. It was placed in a ball of wax to preserve it. A hundred years later, the ball of wax had transformed itself into crystal. So, quite a journey. The most amazing thing is the host still seeps blood to this day (1300 years later). The Vatican had the blood tested and the DNA matched the blood from another site in Italy. Things that make you go, “Huh!”. We were allowed to walk up to the crystal holding the host positioned above the altar in the church.

Inside Church of the Eucharistic Miracle

The Altar

Crystal Containing the Miracle Host

Santarem City Hall

After leaving Santarem we continued to Fatima where we had lunch before driving to the site of the shrine. The shrine is dedicated to Mary as she appeared to three young children who were tending sheep in 1917. She continued to appear a number of times. As the news of this spread hundreds of people joined them and witnessed the sun “dancing”. The former field has been transformed over the years to an immense shrine. There is an open-air chapel at the site of the apparitions with the immense white Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary on one end while a modern, underground basilica is at the other end of the paved sanctuary. That modern basilica can seat over 5,000 people. There is a stone walkway the length of the long sanctuary grounds where pilgrims traverse on their knees praying.

1st View of Sanctuary Grounds

The Open Air Chapel

Father Matt Leading Mass

Pillar Marks Spot Mary Appeared 

The Basilica

The first thing we did upon arriving was attend mass performed by the priest who was leading our group, Father Matt. He was a little stunned because he thought he was leading mass for just our group. Jose had managed to have him head the daily English mass at the open-air chapel which was attended by hundreds. After mass I managed to get myself in serious trouble with a certain Panamanian. Following mass, the group was told to gather in the middle of the sanctuary grounds so we could walk to our nearby hotel. My wife decided she wanted to buy a couple devotional candles and position them near the chapel at this same time. I told her this was a bad idea, but she blithely ignored my opinion (as she is wont to do). She performed her usual disappearing act that she’s perfected over the years when shopping and I’m trying to find her. The group started moving and I couldn’t find her.

Still Smiling (Before she Disappeared)

Sanctuary Grounds

Looking Towards Underground Basilica

I figured she would be fine and wouldn’t wander away while I needed to accompany the group to find out where our hotel was. I kept my eye on her last position as we walked across the vast sanctuary grounds but she never appeared. It took about twenty minutes to walk to the hotel and get our hotel room key. As soon as I got the key I sprinted back to the sanctuary and found a livid wife awaiting me. It will not come as a surprise that she didn’t appreciate my logic and assumed no personal responsibility for disappearing when I told her the group was walking to the hotel. We both had been awake for over 24 hours at this point so “understanding” each other’s position wasn’t in high concentration. The entire group basically collapsed after dinner after the very long but rewarding day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete – my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Czech Connection – Czech couple who’ve become good friends along with their daughter (the Czech Shadow); Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Seis Amigos - two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother-in-law (whom I miss more than I can ever explain); Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course