Waking up at 0500 has its benefits. I woke up to the song of birds and the beauty of a sunrise over a historic Roman Bridge.
Amarante is the city of love they say.... and yes, I fell in love with it. Or maybe I just fell back in love with life.
It will be a 5hr long express ride back to Lisbon and I don't see any facilities on board. I hope they make stops for weak bladders haha. A 5 hour nap would be nice, unlikely though, I just had 2 coffees. Not the greatest decision.
24hr time lapse...
Well I survived the 5hr bus ride and the 1 hour train ride. It was hard for my legs to not be in motion but my feet were grateful for another day off.
Upon arrival in Setubal, my cousin was there at the train station to pick me up but I didn't see her so I did what came naturally and started walking. After a few minutes I thought I should call her and just make sure she knows I arrived safely. Turns out she was at the station trying to figure out how she could have missed me. I stayed put and within 2 minutes she pulled up in her car and gave me a big giant hug. I'm not sure why I thought she would be taller than me, perhaps because I was a kid last time I saw her, but she was cute and little and her English was still great after all these years.
We stopped at the store before going to her place and grabbed some wine.
I was welcomed to her home by 2 excited, happy barking, small dogs and a handful of cats and had the pleasure of meeting my youngest cousin, her son, João. Tall and handsome and smiling. Then the Beast rose from the depths of the earth hahaha. My Beast. My son, sleepy faced, dazed and confused, came out of his room and I hugged him finally after more than 3 weeks.
I went to sit in the kitchen and already Fatima was at the stove whipping something together. Within minutes she had a plate in front of me with fast fry steaks, portuguese cabbage and chorizo and chips and Vinho Tinto. It was delicious. She doesn't mess around. Dominick and João were also served lunch with a smile. Now I know why Dominick wants to bring her home and keep her in our kitchen haha. After lunch, Fatima, Dom and I went for a short walk around the corner for coffee and had a great talk in the sun. Who knew Fatima was so wise and kind and caring. She took such good care of Dominick and I haven't seen him look so calm and at peace for a very long time.
I helped Dom pack up his things and Fatima drove us to our hotel close by to check in and came back again later to pick us up.
She took us on a sunset tour of the Setubal shore and then we went out for dinner.
I have very much enjoyed my time reconnecting with Fatima and hope that she will send her boys to Canada in the summer for a visit. It would also be wonderful if they all came to visit and stay with us at Christmas. Her three big boys have yet to see snow!
We had a short but very sweet visit and soon we will be saying our goodbyes. Fatima is picking us up shortly from the hotel and taking us back to the train station. From there we are heading east to Evora for our final couple of days.
I'm not sure I will ever be able to properly thank Fatima for helping Dominick the way she has. The whole chain of events on this journey further validates my theory that the universe unfolds as its meant to and everything indeed happens for a reason.
Xx
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