Monday, Sepltember 7th - Lisbon, Portugal to Salamanca, Spain

We were up even earlier today for a 7:45 departure.  We have about 500 miles to cover plus stops to make along the way so it could be a long day.

Our first stop was about an 1.5 hours later  in Fatima.  Some were really looking forward to this stop and some were hoping to skip it.  I had no idea what it was all about except that it involved another church.  Well, it was indeed a bit more than that.  Apparently on May 13, 1917, three poor children (Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta) were out watching their sheep and goats, and they had a vision.  The Virgin Mary appeared to them on/in a tree and spoke to the oldest daughter, Lucia.  This is now referred to as the miracle of the virgin and the children.  There were other visions, especially with the older daughter and people began to make pilgrimages to the location.  There were three messages delivered to Lucia but I'm not sure I got those right: they had to return to the same place on the 13th of each month, they had to pray for peace, and something about the Russians and the sacred heart of Mary.  The two younger children died young but Lucia became a nun and lived into her 90's.  She had other visions and one later on was of someone trying to kill a living pope, which of course they did try so she (and Mary) get credit for that prophesy.  In October 13, 1917, 70,000 people joined the children and saw the vision.  Mary referred to herself as the "Lady of the Rosary" and asked that a chapel be built there in her honour and that's what happened.

Before the miracle happened, there was nothing in this place except fields.  Now it a huge complex with a large basilica, a smaller chapel on the site of the apparition and a huge church/conference building, the Paul VI Pastoral Centre.  The chapel is sort of off to the side and between the basilica and the pastoral centre there is enough space for thousands of people and they do have that many show up on special occasions - generally around the 13th of the month.  There were not that many people there when we were there, thankfully, but the postcards and exhibits certainly showed the whole place packed with people.  I think the pictures were probably taken when Pope John Paul II was visiting.  He was there several times including in 1982 after the attempted assassination in St Peter's Square that he survived.  He apparently came back in pilgrimage on his knees and consecrated the church at that time, and also mentioned Russia and Mary again.

Unfortunately, the basilica is being repaired so we could not go into it or many of the surrounding structures.  The small chapel is obviously serving as the substitute church for the time being and there was a communion service going on in there so most of stayed out.  Some who were Catholic and knew exactly what was going on and understood the language did go in.  The rest of us just walked around the big empty spaces.  Even the museum was not open when we were there.  Just to the one side of this huge complex a little town has sprouted up with cafes and restaurants and ice-cream parlours and, of course, souvenir shops.  We only had an hour here but that was more than enough time for most of us.  Only the shoppers or those who went to the communion service might have needed longer.   The town, by the way, now has a population of 8,000 people with over 10,000 hotel rooms available for the pilgrims.  Those on pilgrimage attend all the regular services and then walk on their knees between all of the buildings and up the stairs of the basilica.

Once back on the bus we drover for about another hour until we arrived at our lunch stop which was a small restaurant overlooking a lake or reservoir.  Whatever it was, it was lovely.  The food was your typical roadside fare to be eaten quickly but it was good.  Then some of us went for a meander to take pictures of the water and landscape which, despite the water, was much drier looking that what we had been seeing.

On the drive from Portugal to Spain the landscape was again beautiful.  In Portugal the sand was basically white but in Spain it looked red.  There were beautiful wide deep valleys and high mountains and scenery was spectacular.  Trees, fields, towns, hillsides, all in beautiful shades of green and yellow for as far as the eye could see.  There were grains in the fields and what looked like short sunflowers.  Sometimes there were stone fences between the fields and sometimes there were trees or no fences between.  Around Fatima there were lots of trees and forests and hills, and we passed over some large rivers and bridges.  The water was so calm in some spots that the reflections were awesome, even from the bus.  Then there seemed to be a big change right at the border and the area looked drier and much less green with few trees and much smaller ones.  The land was also much flatter.    

I'm not sure how much longer it took to get to the border but crossing it was pretty easy.  The bus had to stop for about two minutes to answer some questions and that was it.  We were back in Spain and on our way again.  I think it was less than two hours later when we arrived in Salamanca and had a short bus tour of the city.  We then got off at the city centre for a walking tour and some free time.  After that we met the bus again to go back to our hotel where we had happy hour in someone's room and then dinner which was included at the hotel.

Salamanca is a city of 180,000 people.   It has one of the oldest universities in Europe delivering classes as far back as 1134 and getting its official royal charter in 1218.  Only two other universities (Bologna and Oxford) are older.  As  we drove and walked around the city we saw several university buildings.  The city is also well known for its Spanish language schools and thus the area attracts a lot of international students.  There is no real industry in the area so education and tourism are the main economic drivers.  As tourism increases they are turning castles and monasteries into hotels and hostals.

The entire city seems to have a golden hue due to the rocks used in construction.  The sandstone come from under the water and when it is brought out and dries off you get the golden colour.  The gold or tan, depending on the sunlight, is actually very rich looking and the stone looks clean everywhere and doesn't seem to turn dark or black, like a lot of the old stones we've seen.  The town is often called "La Dorada" or The Golden City because of the colour of the sandstone.  The whole old town area of Salamanca is a UNESO World Heritage Site.

As usual the city has a very complicated historical background that includes the Carthaginians until 3 BC when the Romans came in and then the Moors in the 7th century and the Christian kings after the 9th century.  A lot of others were involved as well including the Visigoths, the Vettones and the Alans, whom I had never even heard of before.  I really should take a History course at some point to figure out all these groups.  Also, Franco had his headquarters here in the 30's and Salamanca supported him throughout his time.  The official archives of the Spanish Civil War are in the city.

On the bus tour we saw several sections of old city wall remains.  We also saw many green spaces, gardens, parks, fountains and statues.  It looked like a very open and airy city and very beautiful.  In the old town, there was not quite as much open space nor as much green but there was some.  The streets of course are much narrower in the old town and many are pedestrian streets only.  Where we got of the bus outside of Plaza Mayor, there was a small open area and a statue of two men in dress from the 20th century (I'm guessing) - one sitting at a desk with pen in hand and one standing behind.  Unfortunately now, I don't remember who they were or what they were doing.

Plaza Major was built from 1729-1755 and it is a huge square that is totally surrounded on four sides by four-storey buildings.  The main building is City Hall, which has flags around it and a higher tower that has bells in it.  The square was originally built for and used for bullfighting but that stopped in the 19th century.  When we were there they were setting up for a concert that evening.  There are restaurants and cafes all around the outside of the square and their outdoor seating encroaches four and five tables deep into the square but there is still a lot of room available.  There is a covered walkway around the square with 88 arches opening into the square.  There are six gates or entrances that lead into the square.  Some are huge formal archways and others are simply walkways between the two corner buildings.  A lot of the buildings are now private apartments and homes and it must be interesting having one of the 250 balconies overlooking the square.  I'm sure sometimes it would be lovely and peaceful and well worth the money spent to be there while at other times, like during tonight's rock concert, it would probably seem like the worst place to be.

There are two cathedrals, the old one is from the 12th century and the new one is from the 16th century.  I guess I probably saw both, since I later found out they were joined and shared a common wall, but at the time I thought I was only looking at the new one. Although built in the 16th century in a Gothic style, it was worked on until the 18th century so gained some Baroque influences.  It also had some renovation work done in 1992.  Looking at it overall you wouldn't even notice but when told about it you see an impish little character with a long tail holding an ice cream cone and you also see an astronaut in a space suit - both things that you don't normally find in cathedral carvings and definitely not things from the 16th or 18th century. 

The cathedral, and now I'm sure I'm talking about the new one) is very large.  I couldn't get in as it was the end of their day and there was a special mass coming up soon, but from the three high arched doorways at the front I assume there is a centre area and two side aisles probably with chapels off the sides.  That entrance is intricately carved with geometric designs and pattens, crests, symbols and statues some with a depth that goes eight layers deep.  It's quite amazing to look at and could easily hide an astronaut or an ice cream cone.  From the side you can tell that the centre aisle is higher than the side ones and all of the levels are ornately decorated with spires and carvings and gargoyles.  The whole building is very high and then the dome and towers rise even above that. There are small windows on the sides at three different levels.  It was hard to get a full picture of the cathedral from the front because of the narrow streets and the other buildings around it, but as you walked down the narrow streets you could see the towers in the distance and they were impressive.  When the sun shines on it in the right way the whole cathedral appears white with a rose tint and it's really beautiful.

A few blocks away you have a courtyard of the university and it too has a very intricately carved facade.  I'm sure there is meaning behind all of the carvings involved but all we tourist were looking for was a frog on a skull.  I eventually found it with a lot of help from others around me and it was just a frog on a skull.  I don't know what the real significance is of the frog or even the skull for that matter, but there were quite a few skulls on the facade and it is a medical school.  One story is that the frog represents the doctor (Parra) who did not save the life of young Prince Juan who died in the 15th century before reaching 20. 

One other thing I have to mention here because I haven't mentioned it anywhere else is Jamon Iberico or Pata Negra, which means Iberian ham or black hoof, which is a cured ham made in Spain from black Iberian pigs.  It is very, very popular over here although I wouldn't go ten feet to get any.  The pigs are a special breed of black pigs and only they can be used in the process.  They actually have a pedigree, and yes, they have black hoofs.  They, and the ham, are five times more expensive than regular ham.  The piglets are fed corn and barley for the first few weeks.  Then they go out to pasture to eat grass, roots, herbs and acorns.  Just before slaughtering they are fed only olives and/or acorns.  The meat is salted and hung to dry for a few weeks, then rinsed and salted again and left to dry for 4 to 6 weeks and the process continues for anywhere from a year to four years.  The ham sells for $50-$100 US per pound and has just in the last ten years been available in the US.  I'm not sure about Canada but I won't be running out check when I get home.  Anyway, they have shops all over these cities where there are hundreds of huge hams (hoofs included to proof authenticity) hanging from the ceiling or from racks along the front of the store, and they come in various sizes.  The stores also carve off the ham and sell it by the pound for those who just want a little and not the whole ham, although it was not unusual to see people walking down the street carrying a ham by the hoofs.

Okay, enough of the pigs, as we wandered around on our tour and during our spare time there were other squares, courtyards and other buildings, often 3-4 storeys high, with painted and carved wall and door decorations, and fancy iron work around windows and balconies.  We passed other churches and monasteries and university buildings.  There were also lots of cafes and restaurants and shops everywhere.  The whole town was busy and it looked like a great place to spend more time but alas, we had to get back on our bus and head to the hotel and another of our not-so-exciting included hotel dinners.

After dinner we decided to walk down to the 1st century Roman bridge from where we could watch the fire works that were supposed to happen when it got dark.  Well, we never did find the Roman bridge but we followed the crowds and ended up in an open park area.  There were people everywhere so we assumed we were in a good spot.  When the fireworks started, it turned out that the park was a perfect place to watch from.   We stayed there for the whole presentation, which was really quite long, and we were all impressed.  I don't think I had ever heard/seen/felt fireworks like that before.  We were not actually close to where they were being set off but they were so loud that the blasts shook the ground and you could just feel them pulsing through your body.  And they were fast and colourful and different so they were truly amazing to watch.  I would say they were definitely the biggest and best fireworks I have ever seen.  They just came at you so fast and furious and non-stop that they were awesome.  I swatted at flies a couple of times but eventually realized it was ash falling on us.  I guess that says we probably were quite close to the action or the fireworks were going off quite low.  Whatever it was, it was great.

After that we tried again to find the Roman bridge but eventually just gave up and went back to the hotel and called it another day.