Our train arrived at Gare do Oriente at dawn. No shops was open for business yet. I had lots of time to explore Gare do Oriente before catching our bus to Fatima.

The architecture of Gare do Oriente is like a futuristic building from the exterior. Relying quite heavily on natural lighting, the interior lighting of Gare do Oriente at dawn or even when its cloudy seems dim making the station dull looking.

The first bus to Fatima was set to leave Gare do Oreinte at 10am. It is the start of Europe’s summer months. By 7am, the cool breeze died off as station becomes crowded and the heat from beyond the station starts to fill the building. The coolest and less crowded part of the station is the basement underpass. This underpass leads to other wings of this huge station. And of course, there are places to sit and rest. I chose to rest on the sliding walls of the underpass. And of course, it’s clean!

We arrived at Fatima just in time for check-in and also a walk to the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary at sunset was beautiful with rays of golden light onto the church.