It was the bells and the singing.  We were a 5 minute walk to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, but you could hear the sounds and the music all the way to the center.  I did not think I would get as emotional as I did, but the place is overwhelming, well at least for me.

Our Lady appeared to 3 Portuguese children from May until October, always on the 13th of the month.  Except for in July when the government threw them in jail for lying.  She waited until the 15th. This was in the year 1917.  My mother had just been born.  She was dressed in white with a gold crown holding a rosary.  The village people were skeptical of these visions, some believed them, some did not including their own family members.  They wanted a sign….so on October 13th she made “the sun dance.”  She gave them 3 secrets.  All were written down by the children.  The first 2 were divulged pretty quickly, and the last one was read by Pope JP2 in 2000.  I first heard about all of this when I was a little girl.  Portugal and Fatima seemed very far away.

Yesterday, on my birthday, I attended Mass with 1,000’s of other people.  The entire service was close to 2 hours long.  The processional in was a sight to behold.  First the altar servers with the candles and incense, then about 75 priests who would be distributing communion.  Then came the men in “the party hats” as the big guy calls them, the bishops.  And then the statue of our Lady came in.  The mass itself was sung in Latin.  Had to go to the corners of my brain to remember the words.  Sister Mary Antonita would be proud.  It was extremely moving for me. After wards, when everything was finished, I actually found a nice quiet place and said my rosary.

This being the 100th anniversary of her appearing to the children, a lot of pilgrims are here.  They do a rosary every night at 6:00 and a candlelight procession at 9:30.  The one thing about mass yesterday, was even with all those people….it was quiet.  

I am truly blessed to have been able to come here and experience this miraculous place.

We drove to the Alentejo wine region, specifically to the Herdade Do Sobroso Wine and Country House.  We were here in April and fell in love with this place and the area.  And we were warmly welcomed.  Sofia greeted us with a smile, hugs and kisses on the cheeks.  It is quiet, peaceful and acres and acres of vines.  Their grapes had already been harvested.  They began the process on August 1st and finished 4 days ago.  Felipe the wine maker told us he planted some Petite Syrah that will be ready to harvest in about 4 years.  And as we promised we brought him a bottle of Oonapais from Benzinger.  He had read up on this winery and was very interested in how they grow their grapes and make their wine.  He and Sofia really enjoyed it. They gave us 2 of their bottles in return.  The staff here will do anything for you.  Julio and Tiago are the best.  But now we must get on the road and go to our next destination…..Fatima…..a place that I always wanted to go and visit.

We decided to come back to this country because we fell in love with this place last spring.  One of the perks of Tom working/living across the pond is that we can visit the different countries for a small price.  We are taking advantage of this whenever I am over here. 

This time we are in Faro.  Which is on the Mediterranean Sea, almost to the point where it meets up with the Atlantic.  It reminds us of San Diego.  Actually, La Jolla.  We are staying at the Hotel Quinta Lago.  Right on the water.  We had a relaxing day, after flying and driving to get here.  The people here are wonderful.  Last night we went to their outside bar, because we knew the way the sky looked we would experience a beautiful sunset.  We were not disappointed.  My, oh, my, God took out the big crayons.  What a sight to behold.  And the best part was sharing this with the other people out there, and especially the big guy.  

Today we are driving to the Alentejo wine region.  Going back to the Herdade Do Sobroso.  We were there last spring.  A great country inn smack dab in the middle of their vineyards.  A quick antidote about this place and there.  I always ask the waitress and or waiter what wine they would recommend.  When the big guy mentioned that we would be going to Sobroso, she mentioned that her colleague had a nephew that works there.  Saul comes out, says his nephew is Julio.  I told him that he was the fine young gentleman that waited on us for three days, and whatever we asked for, we always got, “of course.”  He was going to call him, and I said: “Tell him 2 of the Americans are coming back.”  Small world, indeed.  On the road..

We didn’t have a lot of time in the city of Bordeaux- about 8 hours.  We went to the city center and walked down to the river.  Monday was a bank holiday so everyone was out.  Because of the shortness of time, we took one of those tour buses which drove us around the city for about an hour.  Because restaurants close between 2:00-7:00, we had a late lunch.  I should say that they don’t serve food, you can get anything else.  In the early evening we found a cafe – sat down and watched the street entertainers.  Young kids doing tricks with soccer balls, jugglers, and always the musicians.  I could have sat there all night and people watched.  But we had to end the night early.  Another airport, another flight, another train ride.   I am truly blessed to be able to travel to these wonderful places.  As I always say….two broke kids.

First off, I would like to say that I am praying for the people of Houston and the surrounding areas.  So nice to see people helping each other.  That is a blessing.

I forgot one thing.  We went back to the pizzeria place to have dinner and thank them again for helping us out the night before.  Plus we wanted to give the girl whose friend was the one that drove us a tip.   Great food, too.

What a beautiful church Saint Emilion is.  Lovingly old.  When you walk in there is a pillar with gold tacks.  You can take one and hammer it in….it was full, but I managed to find a spot at the bottom.  Mass of course was in French.  Went back to our country inn for lunch.  Was suppose to do a champagne tour later that day, but the weather did not cooperate.  Lightning and thunder and rain.  Between the walking to where the caves were, and the tiny walkways not suitable for an umbrella, but with the lightening I wouldn’t have used one anyway, we decided to forego the tour. 

Today we are going to the actual town of Bordeaux.  We have been told it is another great place to explore.  Before leaving this morning, we did another walk to town just in case we missed something.

Yesterday was very warm and very humid.  Reminded me of being back home in Rock Hill.  But it didn’t stop us from walking every where.  Water, water and more water. I love the little shops.  We found one that all the local artists display there wares.  I support local artists, enjoy looking at the talented workmanship.

We did a tour and tasting at Chateau Villemaurine, and there underground quarries.  Where we are, they only produce reds because the soil is so rich.  On the other side of the river is where the whites are produced.  

Saint Emilion is named after a monk who lived here in the 8th century.  At one point he worked in the quarries, before dedicating his life to prayer.  The church here, which is named after him was literally built with one quarry.  Mass is this morning.  At least there is a breeze today.

We walked everywhere yesterday.  It’s about a mile into town from where we are staying.  Up and down, through vineyards.  Once into town, its more hilly and it is all cobble stones.  A great workout.

Did 2 private wine tours and tastings.  One was at Chateau Mauvinon where the winemaker was Bridgette.  All their Bordeauxs are made from 70% merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet savinion.  The tops of the vines are pruned flat so the energy from the sun goes to the fruit and not the vines.  We noticed pretty much all the vineyards had big bottles of wine on display.  We thought it was for decoration.  But no.  They hide the Heat mechanism that they use in the winter to keep the vines warm.

Last night we had dinner outside, and were assured that a cab could pick us up.  Well, at 9:30 we were told they stop driving at 9:00.  We could walk back.  However, it is dark, no lights, and very small roads.  The lovely gentlemen sitting next to us heard our dilemma and told our waiter….all in French.  He called someone up, and the next thing we were told was someone from the nearby pizza place could take us…..in the delivery truck.  While standing outside waiting, ran into some fellow Americans….who were from Arizona and fellow ASU fans.  Their Uber driver did not show up because he was hiding from the police.   All in a day, always an adventure.

Back into town I go.  Another tour and tasting. And more exploring.

I love traveling through the countrysides.  Whether it is driving through the beauty that is England/Wales or riding by train.  That is the best.  I always look for the church, because that is the center of town.  When you see hanging baskets of flowers, you know that is a pub.  And a long the way you see small farms with either cows or sheep.  I am now in another wine region of France, Bordeaux.  We drove in from the airport to St-Emilion.  Once getting off the highway towards the place where we are staying, all you see are vineyards- as far as the eye can see.  And of course the winery’s.  Old buildings, you can tell have been here for centuries.  We are staying smack dab in the middle of a vineyard at a place called Les Belles Perdrix de Troplong Mondot.  It is a beautiful place.  Our room is huge….and over looks the countryside.  And the food!!!   I think I ate seaweed yesterday at lunch.  They say you eat with your eyes first….and they are right.  All in the presentation.  Lunch was about 2 hours, dinner was 2 and a half.  The people here in this country want you to enjoy, relax, have a great time while having your meal.

Unlike Sonoma and Napa, you just can’t go to a winery and do tastings.  You have to set up appointments.  Today we made arrangements to go to 3 winery’s for private tours and to taste.  First we are going to walk into the village and explore.  The weather is perfect.

What a wonderful little town that is Colmar.  And what makes it even better is that it is right there in the Alsace wine region.  My mother’s family is from the area.  I wish I knew the village, but I do know that my great great grandmother Suzanne Monnier Capesius and my great grandmother Marie (Mary) Capesius Millet are from that region.  We took an all day wine tour of Alsace.  Aude our tour guide was the best.  She was born and raised in the area so she knew a lot of the history as well as being knowledgeable of wine.  She took us to 4 different winery’s.  There are 4,200 winery’s in Alsace.  The first one was a cooperative one, and the next 3 were family owned.  Those family ones have been producing wine for over 9 generations, 350+ years.  Nicholas, Simone, Francois, Martine-Jean Philippe were the wine makers we met and proudly shared their wines, gave us tours of their winery’s.  We got to sit in the cellars and sample the wines.  Nice generous pours.  We then took a break for lunch, Aude took us to a small medieval village of Eguisheim.  Steven, who was also taking the tour and quickly became our friend,  went with us to enjoy a great French meal.  Along the way and going through the villages were the colorful and beautiful flowers.  They were everywhere.  It was explained that they have competitions between one another on who has the best flowers.  Thank goodness I don’t have to judge that contest.  Everyone would be a winner.  It was an unbelievable day.  Tasted some wines, met some great people, and toured a most beautiful countryside.

I flew over to Heathrow from the states where on Sunday.  Always the red eye.  Leave around 6:50 or so and get in at around a little before 8:00.  The times always changes depending on the time of year.  The pilot got us in an hour early – great tail wind, but what was the point.  An hour and 45 mins to get through passport control.  The big guy had asked for a late checkout at the hotel (he always drives up the night before) so I could take a little nap.  3 hours later, and a great shower we were off to Basel Switzerland.  He had a European financial conference and I tagged along.  A quaint city, close to Germany and France.  Today we drove to Colmer in France, in the French wine country of Alsace.  My mothers family is from this region.  I find it fitting that right after her 3 year anniversary that I am where her roots began.  Lots of streets to explore, a lot of alleys to see.  But the one thing today was the Collegiate of St. Martin.  What a cathedral!  I walked in, as I always do when I can see an old church over here in Europe, and say some prayers for my family.  Sitting there, a choir of school age boys were practicing.  Sitting there thinking and praying for my mom, hearing their beautiful young voices, I was truly overwhelmed.  I lit a few candles and walked out.  I kept the tears back…..hard to do. Tomorrow we are taking a wine tour at a few winery’s.  Can’t wait to see more of this gorgeous area, and think, wow Mom….you would love this!