Two ports, two shrines

Hello,

The last two days have been busy and tiring. Co’s feet hurt badly Monday (fairly new shoes) and we were both really tired after full day excursions both Monday and Tuesday. We’re glad today is an ‘at sea’ day!

Monday, the ship docked in Vigo, Spain and we took an early tour to Santiago de Compostela, the site of the cathedral and grave of St James, the Apostle. It is, according to the tour guide, the third most visited site in Christendom, behind Rome and Jerusalem. The church is huge with a large hospital and a convent adding to its size. September is the start of the off season, so the crowds were manageable. There is an official route for pilgrims to walk, and they often have a staff. All carry a sea shell that indicates that they are pilgrims. In years past, pilgrims would walk from as far away as Italy.

This is a holy year in Santiago de Compostela and that increased the number of pilgrims. The holy year is any year St James’ feast day, the 25th of July, falls on a Sunday. With leap years, there is no regularity to holy years. The next year that it occurs is 2021.

Tuesday we went to the famous shrine at Fatima. The tour bus left from Lisbon, Portugal even earlier than the previous day and it was a two hour trip. Again the crowds were small. We were able to attend Mass, which was nice as we were ‘at sea’ Sunday. Fatima was the most talked about shrine by our teachers when we were in grade school, possibly because it happened so recently. Masses are held at three locations, the basilica, the modern church that holds 3,000 for Mass and a small unenclosed shrine where Mary appeared to the children. Pilgrims here walk on their knees for a distance of 100 yards to the shrine and another 100 yards plus steps if they continue on to the basilica.








The new church has a large crucifix with the face of Christ showing aspects of all races. We are adding a picture in this blog entry. The altar has a piece of the tomb of St Peter from Rome. Outside, there is a very large piece of the Berlin wall. The children were asked by the Lady of Fatima to pray for world peace and the fall of the Berlin wall seems to fit in here.

Both sites have lots of related items for sale. In street carts near St James and in many stores at both shrines. Santiago de Compostela is much larger and we wandered through the small streets and found a great market. The market sold some goods, but mostly flowers, fruits and veggies, cheeses and meats. Meats like pig’s ears, pig’s feet and whole chickens. Whole chickens meaning no feathers, but including heads, feet and everything in-between.

We'll send another entry tonight or in the morning with some trivia that we have noticed on board and ashore.

Colleen & John