AcrossTheWater3008
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- C Frances x 2 - 2016, 2017
C Portuguese x 2 2016, 2017
C Muxia/Finisterra x 2 2016, 17
CdM
I stayed in Coimbra and bussed into Fatima for the Canonization ceremony yesterday. I also had a return bus ticket back to Coimbra at a decent hour of 1730. There were lots of buses to choose from, every half hourly, and the process was quick and easy online. It took me about 2 minutes.
After the beautiful ceremony (I listened to it in Portuguese, sitting outside the packed Brasilica square) a lovely lunch and another visit to the Square and church, I arrived at Fatima bus station at 1600 hours, to find the station packed! It would appear that half the congregation from the Square packed into the station! The police were trying to create some order to enable the buses to go through and leave. But none of the half hourly buses to Coimbra and other cities like Lisboa, Porto etc were running on time. People with tickets from earlier journeys than mine were still waiting... It was terrible ... Rain pelted on us.. Many of these pilgrims were very elderly, carrying stools, flags and other heavy devotional items besides their personal belongings... many started fainting. An elderly woman near me fitted. It was shocking to see these elderly pilgrims sobbing and being carried away by the emergency services... the police handed out some bottles of water at 2130 hours.... no biscuits or other foods were given. Given the age of the pilgrims, many probably had medical conditions.. and to queue up for hours and hours in the rain and cold was jz cruel. The first bus for Coimbra was almost 2020 hours and I got on the second at 2145 hours, leaving hundreds stranded. I also noticed very few angry exchanges but I saw the suffering of waiting and not moving from your spot in the queue, in case one misses the bus. I came away very upset that nobody seemed to care for the pilgrims, especially the elderly. This should have been forseen and the chaos prevented. Plus, where were the buses. Someone said because of road closures, but the road closures were mainly in Fatima, not in the main national bus routes.
A shocking end to a beautiful, gorgeous day. .
After the beautiful ceremony (I listened to it in Portuguese, sitting outside the packed Brasilica square) a lovely lunch and another visit to the Square and church, I arrived at Fatima bus station at 1600 hours, to find the station packed! It would appear that half the congregation from the Square packed into the station! The police were trying to create some order to enable the buses to go through and leave. But none of the half hourly buses to Coimbra and other cities like Lisboa, Porto etc were running on time. People with tickets from earlier journeys than mine were still waiting... It was terrible ... Rain pelted on us.. Many of these pilgrims were very elderly, carrying stools, flags and other heavy devotional items besides their personal belongings... many started fainting. An elderly woman near me fitted. It was shocking to see these elderly pilgrims sobbing and being carried away by the emergency services... the police handed out some bottles of water at 2130 hours.... no biscuits or other foods were given. Given the age of the pilgrims, many probably had medical conditions.. and to queue up for hours and hours in the rain and cold was jz cruel. The first bus for Coimbra was almost 2020 hours and I got on the second at 2145 hours, leaving hundreds stranded. I also noticed very few angry exchanges but I saw the suffering of waiting and not moving from your spot in the queue, in case one misses the bus. I came away very upset that nobody seemed to care for the pilgrims, especially the elderly. This should have been forseen and the chaos prevented. Plus, where were the buses. Someone said because of road closures, but the road closures were mainly in Fatima, not in the main national bus routes.
A shocking end to a beautiful, gorgeous day. .