Fátima, Portugal

"Unlimited mimosas*!" This phrase, exclamation and all, implies much about our current state of affairs. How can a drink which includes champagne be poured in unlimited quantities? And why would you want to drink it all day Sunday when you and I probably have to work on Monday? I'm not religious, nor ever have been; still, it makes one question if we need collective restraint and reverence in our lives again. 

In certain parts of the world (hell, even south of the Mason-Dixon line here in the U.S.), Sundays are not an extension of Friday and Saturday night's debauchery, they're reserved for the big man upstairs. Or, if you live in Fátima, the woman who gave birth to his proclaimed son. 

When my cousins spoke of Fátima, they didn't say much about the town itself. Rather, they expressed how the town made them feel. I only understood why when we arrived not as pilgrims, but as heathens tourists. For a town built on hope (quite literally), I'm not sure why they decided to box it in with slabs of concrete. Maybe only an idealist American would say something like this, or not? One cousin lamented, "It's very touristy.... I felt like I was in America the last time I went." Again, I only understood her comment standing in the seemingly boundless parking lot surrounding the beige exterior of the shrine. It was like standing in a mall parking lot before it opens to the masses.

"No, no, don't listen to her!" interjected her older sister. "It's beautiful to be there when everyone comes together. All the people, praying. I'm filled with life. It's one my favourite places." The Marian apparitions witnessed by three children in Fátima filled the lives of thousands on May 13, 1917, and countless thereafter. Seeing a pilgrim on her knees completing the last leg of our journey, I wasn't necessarily filled with life. I was however in awe of her restraint, reverence, and indomitable faith. Regardless what you believe in (or don't), perhaps what makes Fátima really beautiful is that you leave with a little bit more of each. For your neighbour, and yourself.

* Let me explain for those of you who live out in the 'burbs where brunches are usually had in breakfast nooks. Folks who live in cities, and often in communal housing situations, have to dine elsewhere for their french toast fix due to space constraints in the kitchen. Knowing this, restaurants lure diners to their establishments with anything from 2-for-1 deals to unlimited mimosas. Of course, the latter is more profitable because alcohol lowers inhibitions -- and diets. Healthy fruit plate or the lox eggs benedict? Hmm...

Length of Stay

One day

Docking Index

    

Four anchors, sorry 'cuz. I'm going to have to side with your younger sister if I want to live here. I'll take my expansive parking lots and beige concrete behemoths in the land where they were born -- not across the Atlantic. You may say my expectations are too high if the Virgin Mary graced her presence here. But that happened when every concrete pebble was a blade of grass.