Thanks to the recommendation of friends, we are staying at the Pousada (historically significant inn) within the Fortalezza of Valenca, Portugal looking across the Rio Minho at Spain.

We have been so fortunate on our Camino. The lady who threw open her second floor window to tell us we were going the wrong way… Saturday in Braga when the Tourist Office told us there was no 4 pm vigil mass anywhere and we happened to peek into yet another church in that ancient capital city known as “Little Rome” just as a 4 pm mass was beginning!… Yesterday, when we walked into Valenca to learn that our reservation has been mistakenly made for the previous day, but the manager honored it anyway…

And also yesterday we were fortunate when we sought a medical consultation for Ed’s increasingly painful back. It started after an exercise session back in DC. At first, it seemed to get better, but in recent days the lump on one side of his back got more and more painful. So, we had our first encounter with Portuguese medicine, involving walking in to a clinic with no appointment, a 2 hour wait, a consultation with a doctor and an English translator, two prescriptions and an assurance that the lipoma is not a serious condition. And today, at the same clinic, Ed had his first-ever chiropractic adjustment. It turns out that the clinic houses the only chiropractor in northern Portugal! 

Ed should be feeling better in a few days, and he already reports some relief. But in future photos, you won’t be seeing him carrying a back pack…

We give thanks for our many blessings, and for all of you. Praise be to God.

Yesterday we walked into Olivera de Azemeis when the town just happened to hold their annual Mercado Antiga (Ancient Market). The place was bursting with people, almost all locals, enjoying hundreds of booths and musicians dressed in ancient garb. The music, wind, drums, accordian, voice and more, sounded a bit Irish and definitely Celtic. It was lovely to see how many ancient arts and crafts, including basketry, wood carving, embroidery, baking, etc, are still enthusiastically practised.

While there was food, drink and handicrafts for sale, there was little commercial feeling. Rather, as has been our consistent experience, people are friendly, kind and patient. (Patient with our attempts to speak Portuguese… a very difficult language…)

Although we have heard of Fatima so much we really didn’t know what to expect. We visited for 24 hours the day after Pope Francis was at the sanctuary to canonize Jacinta and Francesco, two of the three shepherd children to whom Mary appeared in an oak tree the site now of a chapel at one side of the enormous plaza. Papa Francesco performed the canonization on May 12 and the 100th anniversary of the first apparition on May 13.

When we arrived in May 14 the huge crowds had gone and the giant spaces were fairly quiet. We attended Sunday mass in the newer of the two basilicas, beautifully decorated with a gilded mural of Our Lady with the three shepherd children and a host of saints. The figure of Jesus on the cross was strikingly muscular and had thick, curly hair like a young Portuguese fisherman.

Our greatest experience was in the quiet and cool evening, when we walked the Via Sacra, which wends through olive trees a short distance from the sanctuaries. Ed and I said the rosary together as we walked. Mary urged the children and the crowds who gathered for her second and third appearances to pray the rosary for peace. Our peaceful experience at Fatima increases our appreciation for this prayer practice. We keep our family and friends in our hearts.

We have been walking for several days and luckily left the rain behind in Lisbon. Initially we took trains and buses for a few days to reach Coimbra, the beautiful university city, and to pay a visit to Peter and Catarina in Figueira da Foz, an oceanside town. We are so happy to have made these new friends!

Stay tuned for more in our next post.