In 1917, three children in Fàtima, Portugal were witnesses to apparitions of the Virgin Mary over a three month period. Over 50,000 people gathered for the final appirition, and were witnesses to the “Miracle of the Dancing Sun.” Since that time, Fàtima has been a major pilgrimage site for the Catholic Church. Over 5 million people visit it each year.

Bill, what do you think of Fàtima?

No disrespect intended, but it feels a bit like Disneyland for Catholics. Tons of people. Lots of trinkets for sale. Long lines. While surely many people have a deeply religious experience here, I did not.

Did you crawl on your knees to the shrine?

Traditionally some people approach the shrine on their knees in a sign of respect and worship. One of my deranged blog followers (that’s a redundant statement) suggested I do it. It looks like they crawl for over 100 yards on cement. Ouch. No way! (You can see people on their knees at the end of the video below.)

Today’s walk

The day started with a long uphill, but flattened out. I spent most of my day walking on a flat dirt path through trees. The last mile or two was on a busy road with virtually no shoulder for walkers. (That’s crazy given how many people walk this route.)

Today, I walked 11.25 miles and climbed about 1000 vertical feet. By the end of the day I’ll probably take nearly 29,000 steps. Weather was perfect. Sunny with a high of 80 with a light breeze.

Special thanks to my friend Dave from PSU. He’s a devout Catholic, and he made me a rosary to carry on the Camino. I’m not Catholic but in Dave’s honor, I carried it in my hand all day. I even did the official rosary prayer (the best I could follow the instructions). But mostly I prayed for Dave’s family and my friend Bob C. who I learned last night is facing a difficult illness.

For the next two days, I’ll head due east to catch the Camino de Santiago again.