Day 02. Sun, Oct 6.

After leaving Santarem, we headed to Fatima on the main freeway, our bus got off the main exit road to the open country side of Fatima. I could not imagine what Fatima would be like ahead of me as the bus was heading to the town. Since the beginning of the 1900's, here was the place of world prophesy foretelling WWI and II impacting almost 100 million earth inhabitants and its demise; millions more around the world in the rise and fall of Russia, to the last Fatima revelation, the assignation attempt of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

Located in west central Portugal, in the region of Leiria and approximately 110 kilometers north of Lisbon, the small town of Fatima is one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world today. It was a sense of awe in knowing the Fatima history as the bus was traveling on its country road. As we crossed intersections of countryside roads in full speed, all vehicles slowed down and went around a circle turnaround, instead of a stop sight. The rural Fatima was very peaceful, quieted; it looked like rain came here often during this season, the country scenery was green beyond our eyes could see. Few houses appeared along the road, those houses were beautiful, well built, color-rich villas surrounding in the midst of the country hills and green fields under the overcast sky.

The city appeared at the end of the country road, our bus headed into the big turnaround circle on which the monumental statues of the 3 little shepherds with sheeps walked on top of the erected, slightly curved wall, followed behind by another sheep, reminding visitors of its world known story.

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