Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Lisbon, Portugal. Excursion: Fatima & Batalha

Over the past 2 days I've been working on my blog - but not getting very far! Yesterday I discovered that the Prinsendam had extra 'passengers' on board, flying about on the balcony near the lido and our bedroom. They looked like sparrows. Very likely they had been resting in the eaves of the balconies or taken shelter on the ship somewhere before we left the port or leaving the river mouth. Unfortunately for them, they were stuck on the ship until we were close to land for them to fly off. Needless to say, I put out some crumbs for them in the hope that it would give them enough sustenance until we reached port. New country and new foreign feathered counterparts to make friends with!

It was good to reach land again and as soon as the ship had been cleared, guests headed out to explore.

I was put on a tour to the lovely Batalha Monastery Santa Maria da Victoria, a magnificent 14th Century Gothic church, where Prince Henry the Navigator's tomb is situated.

There were lots of people around and I couldn't hear our guide so I missed out the history and facts about the monastery. I would have been better if our guide had had a microphone headset and given us tuned in headsets so we could hear her better. I wasn't disappointed though because just visiting the place had me in awe.

Tomb of King João I & his wife, Queen Filipa de Lencastre

Not long after seeing Prince Henry the Navigator's tomb inside part of the monastery, a guest slipped and fell. Apparently she had been looking at her surroundings and not really noticed where she was going or placing her feet. She blamed herself for not looking and for not wearing better shoes. She had hurt her knee and it started to swell so James (a security officer from the ship who also came as a tour escort with me) and I sat her on a pew to rest and asked for an ice pack for the guest's knee. Someone brought an ice gel pack and James informed our guide who checked on our guest. With the tour to continue with our guide had to get back to the group. James and I sat with guest for rest of the monastery tour until it was time to go back to the bus for the next part of our tour, Fatima Sanctuary.

View of part of the Fatima Sanctuary

Fatima is the so called 'Lourdes of Portugal' which, according to Roman Catholicism, is the site of miracles and is also, apparently, where the apparition of the Virgin Mary was seen by three shepherd children, the last one witnessed by many other people. Fatima Sanctuary is one of the most important catholic shrines in the world dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

On the Cova da Iria Plaza there is the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Basilica of the Our Lady of the Rosary, and Chapel of the Apparitions.

A service was in progress at the time from singing to praying and mass. One could go into the Basilicas to look and/or worship, light candles for loved ones at the Sanctuary, attend the service or relax/contemplate. The guest who had hurt her knee attempted to walk about at the Sanctuary but her knee was too painful. So I sat on a bench with her to keep her company until her friends came back and they kindly told me to have a quick wander around before heading back to the bus. James had visited the Basilicas already but he was kind enough to come with me - I think he didn't mind a second visit because he had rushed around to see everything before checking up on me and the guest. The site seemed huge, the atmosphere was one of reverence. People had come to worship, others to pay homage; and for others it was a pilgrimage. Part of the pilgrim involved walking on their knees to the Basilicas. It was very interesting.

Inside the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity

Time for lunch which was at Hotel Cinquentenario. We had a nice buffet meal served with red wine and water. Hotel staff gave our guest a bag of frozen peas to put on her knee during lunch and her friends rallied around to get her something to eat. After lunch I asked the guide to contact the ship and ask for a wheelchair to be brought out to meet the bus at the cruise terminal, and the guest agreed to see the ship's doctor once back on board.

With the tour over, it was time to head back to the ship. It was quite a day and even though I didn't see much of the inside of the Gothic monastery, I was glad to have seen what I could. The day itself had been lovely.

The day didn't end well for four people. The ship left without them because they were not back in time, and they were not on a tour organised by the ship. Ooops.... So, they will have to find their own way to Gibraltar and no doubt they won't be very happy...

PHOTOGRAPHS

Batalha Monastery Santa Maria da Victoria