Porto, Fátima, Lisboa: A Portuguese Christmas

You may remember my journal entry filled with vibrant, sunny photos of juicy oranges fresh from the tree and a solo city break around colourful Lisbon from my week in Portugal during Easter 2019, when I stayed with my good friend Claudia & her family in her hometown of Fátima.

I was fortunate enough to return to this beautiful country at the end of the year when Claudia generously invited me to spend Christmas there too! Being the ambitious travellers that we are, we wanted to squeeze in as much as possible over the festive period, so we started the trip with 24 hours in the northern riverside city of Porto, famous for the production of port wine which we sampled on the river bank watching the boats sail by, and the historic bridges stretching across the river Douro to Vila Nova de Gaia.

If you read my previous post you’ll know I’ve been really enjoying shooting black & white film for a change, so I decided to challenge myself by leaving the colour film at home and only taking a few rolls of 35mm Ilford HP5 with me for my Canon AE-1.

After our flying visit around beautiful Porto, we jumped on a late train heading south to Fátima in time for the Christmas festivities over the next few days. Situated in the district of Santarém in central Portugal, Fátima is known worldwide for the three young shepherds who witnessed multiple apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917, and the impressive Santuário de Fátima built at the site of the miracle which is one of the largest Christian pilgrimage locations in the world.

I’ve never really been enthusiastic about celebrating Christmas and usually try to do something totally different like a hiking a mountain trail, so I was more than happy to be in another country this year and immerse myself in the Portuguese culture and traditions. On Christmas Eve we attended Midnight Mass at the local church in Claudia’s grandparent’s village, followed by a huge bonfire known as ‘Lomba d’Egua’ where we celebrated with fireworks and plenty of wine.

Christmas Day was spent at her grandparent’s house where I’d visited for Easter earlier in the year, and the whole family gathered for a huge feast of traditional bacalhau (salt codfish), cabbage, rice and potatoes, as well as an endless variety of homemade cakes and sweet treats. When we couldn’t possibly indulge any more, we took part in amigo secreto, or Secret Santa with a twist; before giving your gift you make a speech describing the person you’re gifting to, which is equal parts endearing and hilarious. I was honoured to be included and attempted to make my speech about Claudia’s brother in Portuguese, but having not practiced since Easter I was fairly limited in what I could say!

After such warm hospitality from Claudia’s welcoming friends and family, we said farewell on Boxing day and drove down to Lisbon for another speedy 24 hour visit, staying the night and then exploring the next day before our flight home that evening.

You can easily spend a day strolling around Lisbon’s narrow, winding streets, but being the City of Seven Hills and considering I’d already visited earlier in the year, we enlisted the help of Claudia’s good friend Catarina who offers guided tours to visitors in her electric tuk-tuk. Bumping up and down the cobbled streets, we were able to whizz around all the top attractions and best viewpoints in Lisbon, stopping for codfish cakes and pastéis de nata along the way.

I’d never expected to visit Portugal any time soon, let alone twice in one year, but I can confidently say it’s earned a place at the top of my list. Having the opportunity to experience the local lifestyle with a friend offers such a special perspective that otherwise isn’t accessible when travelling independently, and aside from having the chance to document both trips on colour and black & white film, I’ve realised it’s the memories in between the photos that will truly last a lifetime.