Fatima (Day 11 on the Camino)

This is the first entry in my travel blog. I can't tell you whether the stories will be exciting, moving, boring or funny. I don't know myself yet and I guess we'll have to find it out together. So far, I have told some of my experiences to some friends or family and some stories I have simply forgotten. I think a travel blog is a good way to record stories and share them directly with you.

Briefly about where I am at the moment. After a crazy time at home I needed a break. So off to Portugal to hike. More specifically, to pilgrimage on the Camino Portuguese.

When it comes to my travels, I like not to plan too much in advance and just dive into them. So maybe don't expect a strict chronological order in the entries as well.

Let me start by telling you a bit about my experience in Fatima. Before my visit there, I hadn't done much research on the city. I only knew that many pilgrims also walk to Fatima and that it was on my way. So I took the bus from Nazaré to Fatima.

Fatima is the most important place of pilgrimage in Portugal and one of the best known in the Roman Catholic Church.

When I entered the main square at 6pm, the bells started ringing. Funnily enough, this happens to me often. I enter a place or square and church bells start ringing. I saw smoke and thought something big must be burning. Later I found out that the fire was part of a ceremony. I crossed the square and went in search of the pilgrims' albergue. The gate was closed and no one was to be seen. I also asked someone for help, but they only sent me around the corner, where of course was nothing. Frustrated I booked a hostel.

On the way back, I stopped again at the main square to have a closer look. There was a huge spectacle going on. A big fire was burning. Many pilgrims were listening to a service, singing and praying. Behind them, people were sliding towards the altar on their knees. To be honest, it looked quite tedious and painful. The path of suffering. Apparently, believers can take it on their knees to give their prayers more emphasis. The whole procedure was a bit much for me, so I decided to concentrate on the sunset on the other side. It looked like the clouds were going up in flames. Adorable.

As soon as it started to get dark, I could no longer ignore my growling stomach. So I went in search of a restaurant with a vegetarian dish. Half an hour later, however, I had found nothing promising apart from a vegetable soup. My hunger was gigantic by now. One restaurant also offered pizza. It looked a bit shabby, but at least you can always get vegetarian pizza. There were 8 different types on the menu, all for 9.50€. That's quite a lot for a pizza in Portugal. I thought it might be at least a really good one.

What I was served seemed extremely familiar. I spent the entire dinner wondering if I had just been served a frozen pizza that had simply been heated up in the oven. By the end of the meal I was sure. It was the same frozen pizza I sometimes buy in Germany. Served here for €9.50. I knew I had just been screwed. I wished I had just had the guts to get up and leave. Without paying. Unfortunately, I didn't. Well, that was my holy experience in Fatima.