One of the reasons we made this move to Portugal was so that in our retirement we could see and experience things we never could on a regular basis, if at all, had we stayed home.
So when I saw the below link on Facebook, I eagerly clicked on it, ready to catalog some of its featured destinations for a future trip. Lo and behold, the second one on their list was in Portugal! I searched the town name of Óbidos in Google Maps, and discovered it was only an hour away from us!
In fact, the very first place they listed was in Salamanca, Spain, which is about a five hour drive away and certainly doable as well, although we’d probably want to spend the night instead of making it just a day trip. I think that will be next on our list!
Anyway, this day seemed like a good day for a Sunday drive, seeing as how it was Sunday and, well, Sunday drives are best when they’re done on the day they’re named after. If we tried a Sunday drive on Monday, I’m sure the Portuguese would really think we’re weird, and throw metric-measured tomatoes at us as they passed us by on the freeways.
So we hopped into the car and input the city name in our Waze app in order to listen to the dulcet tones of one of the Top Gear guys guiding us to our destination. By the way, Waze is a much better app for driving directions than either Google Maps or Apple’s Maps. Plus the Waze voice says funny things –sounding all the more amusing in their chipper British accent– such as: “Make a U-Turn, which means turning your car around in the completely opposite direction,” and “Congratulations! You have now reached your destination! Although, to be honest, I did most of the work.”
The town of Óbidos is located on a hilltop, and is encircled by a fortified wall from medieval times. We immediately hearkened back to our vacation last year when we delighted in seeing castles of all sorts throughout Ireland and London. We like castles!
So here follows a bunch of pictures we took while wandering about. To be honest, the cobblestone streets were not as much out of a fairy tale as we’d hoped. I think TripAdvisor oversold the fairy tale aspects of the town, and I’d certainly never want to stay in a hotel there just to be inside an area that can all be viewed in a couple of hours. Still, due to the castle itself, and the rest of it certainly being charming, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We hope you do too:
On the way there, one can see dozens upon dozens of wind turbines. It’s a naturally windy area, so they’re able to generate clean, natural energy. However, I think they may make the earth spin faster, which may be contributing to climate change. Just sayin’.This is the view you see when you come ’round the bend, as opposed to going ’round the bend, which I clearly have.Most of the castle-y bits are actually just the wall surrounding the town. But as soon as you see the battlements, you’re transported to an age of knights and dragons and faeries and hurled insults from the French such as: “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”Once you park in the parking lot, you get to stand by this sign and have your picture taken.You can also get your picture taken again next to some steps. All of the picture-taking is free, mind you. Actually, other than parking, you can explore the whole area for free.These stairs lead to the outer wall. It is not a good place for anyone suffering from acrophobia, or for anyone whose body would accurately be described as “fully splatted” after falling onto pavement from fifteen meters up, or about fifty feet for you American luddites.So that’s maybe wide enough for two people… if the one on the left is either completely non-acrophobic or just plain insane. The drop is, well, let’s just say it’s fully splatworthy.The stairs were surprisingly large. The Portuguese may have shrunk over the eons, because they’re almost all shorter than I am, and these steps were a bit of a stretch for me to climb.Forget splatworthy, that’s simply just a bottomless pit. You have no idea how hard I had to work to get over my own acrophobia to get these shots for you, dear reader.But once you make it up there, you’re treated to some magnificent views.
This is a view of Carolyn from above. Due to her knee, she didn’t join me in my death-defying stunts. Nor would I would have wanted her to. Her urge to push me off the edge might’ve been too great to resist after one more bad joke.Once returned to safer ground, and after a ten minute cool-down period to get my heart rate back to normal, we meandered down these “fairy tale” streets. Lots of little shops lined the streets. They were actually quite engaging, not all just touristy kinds of things. Carolyn enjoyed the many tiles available.You might see these in our place when you come and visit. The streetcars are Lisbon icons, and these replicas were very well made and detailed.This is a wall with a rectangular tile thing on it, and Carolyn. Oh, and a bush too.This vine is in the process of strangling the building. Which is why plants are so stupid, don’t they know that buildings already can’t even breathe?Lots of alleyways course through the little town. Just think, 700 years ago this was filled with people who’d never even heard of Donald Trump.My understanding is that the major castle is long gone, and this is some other castle-y structure. I felt rooked.It is still impressive, although it would look even better had I photoshopped some lightning behind it.Another view from a little farther away, still with no photoshopped lightning.Okay, I couldn’t help myself.For some inexplicable reason, they felt it necessary to add these weird plastic features. They probably serve as props for a medieval village in the summer. For us, it took away from the innate charm of being inside castle walls.A few from atop the castle thing you just saw above. That’s Carolyn running away from the giant carnivorous rabbit you see to her left.I tried to wrestle the rabbit to the ground to protect her, but I lost the fight by a hare.More gorgeous views from atop the walls.A gorgeous view from inside the walls.Portugal’s famous blue tiles above Portugal’s most famous female from Kolbe Lane in Wilsonville, Oregon.Here she has gone all incognito to trick the paparazzi.The cars weren’t actually from that era, as any numbskull can tell you. Those are 12th century models, not from the 14th century, when much of this was built. Sheesh.How’d you like to try and conquer that with just a sword and a 14th century VW Golf?“Honey, I’m home! By the way, where’d the stairs to our front door go?”There was a strange man in that window playing an organ. And an even stranger one spreading his arms wide below.
Doing the wave.More building-eating vines.The town was kind enough to offer free guitar lessons.Kevin gets all romantic in front of Casa Romantica.On the corner of Hollywood and Vine.Here I am stealing something from a manikin. I figured I could outrun it.
This was my attempt to act like a professional photographer. How’d I do?This was to make sure no one actually thought I took myself seriously as a photographer. Actually, I simply thought it was a very cool way to decorate around a urinal. It was so pretty, I didn’t want to desecrate it and so used the sink instead. Hey, I’m an American, how am I supposed to know what the customs are around here?Why you’d rent one of these things in such a small town is beyond me. You can drive pretty much anywhere, to be sure, but it’s a bit like renting a moped for shopping in a Safeway.Trust me, we took a lot more pictures than you’re seeing here. Give me some credit for editing, even if looking at all this is eating into your leisure time.Okay, they make these humongously large stairs but then have doorways that make Carolyn look like Manute Bol. Maybe they had legs that went all the way up to their chins? Ancient people were so weird.A very romantic setting for a nice meal. We of course had sandwiches and gelato in a sandwich shop.Outside the walls was this aqueduct that stretched all the way to infinity. Nowadays, it’s filled with Diet Coke.Outside of town was this huge, derelict old church. It looked like something the Munsters might’ve attended on Sundays.
But once you paw your way through the cobwebs and wrestle open the creaky old door, this amazing sanctuary greets you.I can only guess that there are two people in charge of maintenance. The guy in charge of the inside is efficient and uses the church’s money wisely. The guy in charge of the outside gambles a lot and smells of elderberries.The castle walls in the distance as we left for home. It looked a lot cooler in person because you could see the battlements. Just one more piece of evidence that you better come out to see us so you can see this really cool stuff in person!
You were right about the lightening. It was perfect. But I have to ask, what is with the hat? Did the English owner of your new house throw it in the deal?
I eagerly clicked on it, ready to catalog some of its featured destinations for a future trip. Lo and behold, the second one on their list was in Portugal! I searched the town name of Óbidos in Google Maps, and discovered it was only an hour away from us!
baldsasquatchdotcom 
You were right about the lightening. It was perfect. But I have to ask, what is with the hat? Did the English owner of your new house throw it in the deal?
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That’s style for all the old fogies here in Portugal!
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