Our Next Adventure: Portugal | The Faithful Traveler

After a few quick months of discussion and planning, I can finally spill the beans:

We’re going to PORTUGAL!!!

Ok. If God wills it, and if nothing happens to prevent it, that is… you never know, right?

I am so excited, I can’t even tell you how excited I am, but let me see if I can start at the beginning…

So, as you know, I have been working on our next production, focusing on the Holy Father’s recent trip to the Holy Land. It’s a bit of a departure from our usual, purely travel-related programs bc it’s going to talk a lot about history, but I am very excited about it. Like all productions, it’s a lot of work and is slow going. But it’s getting there!

One day a month or so ago, I got an email from Edita Krunic of Select International Tours. She had been speaking with a friend of hers, Alexandre Marto Pereira, owner of Fatima Hotels in Fatima, Portugal, and somehow, The Faithful Traveler came up. Ever the amazing patron and friend that she is, Edita told Alex about us, and encouraged him to go on our site and check us out.

The next thing I know, we’re being invited to Portugal.

It’s crazy, I know. I mean, I tell you guys all the time that I worry about the future of The Faithful Traveler, right? It’s not that I don’t think that the series is worth producing, but producing a travel series for television is expensive, and with our full-time jobs, David and I don’t have nearly the time or funds that are needed to do it. It is clear to me that God wants others to have the opportunity to help us produce this series, and for that, I am grateful. I am grateful that people like Edita and Alex and the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Jordan Tourism Board trust us, and believe that we can create a product that will make them proud.

I know that we can. And I am thrilled to be given the opportunities. Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Edita.

So how am I preparing for Portugal? Well, I’m trying to learn some Portuguese, to begin with (thank you, Pimsleur). I think it’s very important to at least learn a few phrases when you go to a foreign country. It shows respect and humility. And anyway, I LOVE learning new languages!! Thank God I was born to Mexican parents and can speak Spanish, because Portuguese is very similar, albeit different enough to really force me to think. Just saying “the United States” in Portuguese is a challenge for me! Portuguese makes a lot of its s’s into an sh sound, and I find it confusing to know which to use when. But I have two months to get pretty good at it, and I am confident that I can!

I also just finished reading Fatima in Sister Lucia’s Own Words, which is just an awesome read. Sister Lucia really had a way with words. And WHAT A MEMORY! WOW. I mean, I guess if the Blessed Mother appeared to me once, let alone eight or nine times, I wouldn’t ever forget it. But still. God blessed Lucia with an amazing memory for the supernatural events and things going on in her life at such a young age.

I also recently bought The 13th Day and Finding Fatima. I’ve seen The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, and just can’t bear watching it again, with all the licenses they took with the story and making up Hugo. I hope The 13th Day is less cheesy and annoying.

I’ve also been doing a lot of research on Portugal and on what there is to see there. If I had relied on the two travel books I bought, I’d have given up hope, thinking that Portugal had Fatima and that was it. But WOW, thank God for the internet! There are more amazing shrines and churches and places of pilgrimage in Portugal than I could ever cover in a month, let alone the 13-days we’ll be going. I have to pick the cream of the crop, and I think I’ve done a pretty thorough job, but let me know if I’m missing anything! Our itinerary is below.

I hope to be able to interview Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho, the postulator and vice postulator for the cause of canonization of Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

The three Pastorinhos de Fatima, Lucia dos Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto

I’m so excited to be able to speak with Sister because she is my age and she is lively and awesome! I love lively, awesome people.

And here is our itinerary!

I’m not sure what other fun stuff we’ll be doing out there, but I ask for your prayers as we embark on this exciting new adventure. Please pray that both David and I will be healthy enough to endure the trip. Please ask God to show us where He wants us to go, and to allow us to have the experiences He wants us to have. And please ask Him to bless those generous people and companies who are making this trip possible: Edita Krunic and Select International Tours, Alexandre Marto Pereira and Fatima Hotels, the Portuguese Tourism Office, TAP Portugal Airline, and Osiris Travel. I’m sure there will be many more people helping us make this next series happen. We’ll keep them in our prayers, too!

The Faithful Traveler in Portugal

October 2014

Cities: LISBON, ALFAMA, SANTAREM, FATIMA, BATALHA, ALCOBACA, NAZARE, TOMAR, COIMBRA, BRAGA, PORTO

Day 1: fly to LISBON

Day 2: arrive in LISBON/ALFAMA. Overnight LISBON.

LISBON

Madre de Deus Convent (more): houses Nat’l Azulejo Museum
Igreja de São Roque & Museu São Roque (Museum of Sacred Art)
E strela Basilica
B-ROLL Exterior Shots ONLY
- St George’s Castle maybe get a shot of Lisbon from up here

Heavily Gilded Churches (IF WE HAVE TIME)
- Igreja do Menino Deus: 300th anniversary on July 4th, 2011, but this church is usually closed. To visit it you’ll have to ring the bell next to the main entrance, and what you’ll see inside is one of the most impressive churches in the city.
- Igreja De Santa Catarina: one of the most beautiful and sumptuous golden baroque decorations in the city. one of Lisbon’s most impressive artistic constructions, including a stucco rococo ceiling and a monumental organ which is a masterpiece of gilded woodwork. The altar is considered a highlight of gilding during the reign of John V, and includes sculptures of Saint Catherine, Saint Paul and Saint Anthony of Flemish origin.
- Igreja da Pena: rich gilded interior.
- Igreja dos Anjos: 100 yrs old in 2011, Impressive gilded woodwork covers most of the space, with the exception of some pink marble.
- Igreja De São Sebastião Da Pedreira: This small church has the quintessentially Portuguese Baroque interior — large tile panels surrounded by gilding. The result is blue and white images under golden details which surprise upon entering, as the exterior is deceptively simple. It’s one of the rare survivors of the 1755 earthquake, having been inaugurated in 1652. It was dedicated to St. Sebastian, whose life is illustrated on the ceiling and on the tile panels that cover the walls.

ALFAMA (IF WE HAVE TIME)

Igreja De São Miguel: It has one of the richest gilded interiors in the city, which is why it’s one of the most surprisingly monumental attractions in Lisbon
Mosteiro De São Vicente De Fora (more) (wiki): offers one of the most fantastic views of the city from its rooftop terrace, and its extraordinary tiled interior is one of the most fascinating spaces in Lisbon (it holds the world’s largest collection of baroque tiles — around 100,000 of them).
Igreja De Santo Estêvão: built in 1733 over the foundations of a 12th-century temple, with an interior that’s a fine example of Portuguese Baroque. not completely covered in gilt, featuring instead a main altar in stone and a series of sculptures.

Day 3: LISBON. Overnight LISBON.

Day 4: LISBON/SANTAREM/FATIMA. Overnight FATIMA.

LISBON