Ourem

From Lisbon Melissa, Gary, and I piled into Romain's car and headed to his home in Ourem. The drive from Lisbon was short even with one stop in Fatima. Fatima is famous for the large numbers of religious pilgrims that flock to this tiny town where in 1917 Mary appeared to three peasant children. The square is surrounded by two huge churches The Basilica of the Rosary and the modern Church of the Most Holy Trinity, the fourth largest Catholic Church in the world which was finished just a few years ago. The area in between the two churches is plenty big enough for the days when nearly one million people congregate on this spot. It is so big in fact that there is another smaller chapel in the center offering a resting place for those who make the trek from the church to the basilica on their knees. Fatima is a really interesting place and while I didn’t get a chance to go into either church it was neat to see a religious place with a modern twist, something I had yet to see in Europe.



We all hopped back in the car and Romain took us to his family’s restaurant in the little town of Ourem. We were greeted with open arms and a whirlwind of Portuguese that none of us could understand. After reciting the short phrases Romain had taught us our Portuguese vocabulary had reached its limit so we resorted to smiles, hand motions and, getting Romain to translate. The dinner his mother made for us was absolutely amazing. We had a simple appetizer of bread, cheese, olives, and pickled peppers. The selection was not too surprising but the flavors were amazing because everything was fresh and local. For the main course we had a dish called duck rice which consists of duck and rice covered in a savory gravy. The duck gives the dish a kind of smoky flavor making it extremely rich but also delicious. As a topping we used some of Romain’s father’s special hot sauce which left us sweating. This sauce was absolutely incredible! It only took the tiniest drop to engulf an entire plate in flames. We washed the meal down with a delicious wine which is made in the town and had a dessert of chocolate mousse and strawberries.

We said obrigado (thank you) and fantashtico (fantastic) about a million times as we waddled out of the café and back into Romain’s car. Our next stop was a quick drive through the tiny historic/ancient part of Ourem. This part of town is still located inside a castle perched high on a hill. The road into the center actually goes through one of the ancient entrances to the castle. Apparently the horse carts were much smaller than today’s cars and I swear if there had been one more coat of paint on Romain’s car we would not have fit. The drive around the castle was amazing with great views of the flickering lights of the little towns below. It was really cool to see people still living inside the walls of an ancient castle and taking coffee in its courtyard. From the castle we went to a small bar where Romain and his friends always hang out.

In the bar was a pool table, foosball table and plenty of folks. I am glad that we did not go there before meeting Romain's parents as I don’t think any of the Portuguese we learned during the intense foosball matches is intended for polite company. Romain’s friends were amazing and we all had a great time. The night was spent playing games, making jokes, and drinking some of the tiniest beers I have ever seen. It was really fun to see Romain in his element and now I know why he always gets a smile on his face when he talks about Portugal. After a good night’s sleep in Romain’s house and another delicious breakfast, Romain dropped us off at the bus station for our final day of traveling in Porto, Portugal.