From Paris to Portugal: Leiria, Fátima and Batalha

One of my American roommates, Alex, or lovingly known as ‘Alesshandra’, has family in Leiria. Leiria is located in between Coimbra and Lisbon and is close to Fátima and Nazaré, a well-known beach town. When we arrived at the bus station in Leiria, Alex’s aunts and uncles warmly greeted us and took us out to dinner in Nazaré. We enjoyed fresh shrimp from the area, cooked cod and wonderful conversation. Alex’s tia welcomed us into her home, complete with full bath and hot water and super comfy beds. It’s the simple things that I remember from this trip.

Fátima

After a great breakfast, complete with a homemade galão, we visited Fátima. Fátima is a major religious site in Portugal. As we visited and read the history of the church and area, memories of cartoons about the story came into memory. The story includes three children that each received a secret from the Virgin Mary in the 20^th century. In the film, two out of the three secrets were revealed. The secrets included events that would occur in the future, and according to the story, all three occurred. It was interesting to make this connection with films and stories that I saw and heard when I was younger. After Fátima, we ate (of course) and then visited the ‘grutas’.

The last part of the trip included a trip to Batalha, a small town where another part of Alex’s family lives. There was a medieval fair that day that surrounded the cathedral of the town. For the last three months Alex mentioned here and there how much she loved Renaissance fairs, and although nothing sounded more boring, I have to admit that if they are anything like what we saw I Batalha, I can see the charm. The monastery is decorated with intricate handiwork on the walls, ceiling and floor, as well as elaborate tombs (including the tomb of King D. Duarte).

At the Monastery of Batalha

We ended the day with gelato and coffee before heading back to Leiria to drop me off. Alex was going to spend another day with her other family, but I headed back to Coimbra. While waiting for the bus to arrive, there was a small type of garage sale nearby. We looked around at old books and movies. I noticed a Portuguese cookbook that was the same as the one displayed in my kitchen back home. Made me miss my mom a bit more. There was also a plate with a cat’s face on it…Just it’s face. Yes I DID consider buying it for my apartment next year, knowing my future roommate Katie would love it. However, when the woman told me it was five euros, I almost laughed out loud… Oh, just kidding, I did laugh out loud, told her it was for a joke and I wasn’t looking to spend that much on it, and so she tried to convince me, telling me her opinion of how “cool” it was and brought the price down to 4.50. Yeah.