15/07/18 – Obidos, Centro Region
If you read our blog on Evora, it will make sense when I say that Obidos was similar, but on a much smaller scale, particularly in regards to its centre being inside the medieval castle’s walls that also has an aqueduct. It’s such a charming and picturesque place, with it’s cobbled streets and pretty houses.
The centre is full of history, really interesting and it felt quite fairy tale like. There were people dressed in medieval costume walking around like normal, and if you wanted you could hire your own outfit for €5, which would have been funny, but we gave it a miss! We initially thought it was like this all the time, but have since found out that during the month of July there is a Medieval Fair held. That’s reassuring as it would have been all too cheesey!
We saw locals baking pao (bread) the traditional way and many selling the local alcoholic delicacy called Ginja, a cherry liquor for €1 per shot. It’s recommend you sip it from a mini chocolate cup so of course we obliged! We had ours in a dark chocolate cup each- yum! We both thought….I bet our parents would love this!
We walked around the centre in about an hour, starting via the main tourist street, and ending with a walk back along the castles wall with Marley (which was a dog friendly bonus). It was crumbling in places, and there were no barriers, so it was a tad tricky when people walking from the opposite direction needed to pass by. Dan being scared of heights was a nervous wreck at times, whilst Marley and I, on the other hand had blast, making him even more scared by standing near the edge, ha ha. Sorry Dan!
Obidos is quite a bustling touristy place, but it has a great atmosphere. We were stopping by on our way through, so we opted just to stay long enough for a wander around, which gave us a great flavour of it, but we felt that if anyone wanted to stay longer, it would be a relaxing and entertaining place for a few days for sure.
For those who maybe interested, there is huge gravel area (a bit run down) where buses and campers can park for free, and it’s fine to stay overnight too. It’s about a 5 minute walk to the centre from there. That’s where we parked and all was well with the moho on return.
Now off to Foz do Arelho, which is situated along the Obidos lake, just a 20 minute drive away.
