Located an hour north of Lisbon, this Medieval village of Obidos is assuredly quaint, if not post-card perfect. The Romans were here and so were the Moors. Eventually, by mid 11th century the Portuguese finally took over. The 45-foot walls and castle towers dominate over the village. It has become a venue for many Portuguese to get married here.
We first learned about Obidos through our Lisbon tour guide. When ask where to visit north of Lisbon, George’s first quick response was, “Obidos.” We took a side venture from our visit to Nazare driving about 20 miles south. We first saw those 45-foot castle walls.
Obidos is famous for its festivals. One of the largest is their “Literary Festival.” Obidos does boast of having 14 bookstores. We had just missed the “Chocolate Festival” in late March. There were still a number of kiosks left over on a quiet Monday’s visit.
We found some parking alongside a small hotel outside the town walls.
First to visit us was this friendly young cat. He/she came running right after us. I was just fast enough to take this picture.
The main street is a bit larger than a common alley way. It is here where there is a majority of cafés and stores are located.
I have been a lover of soldier toys since childhood. There were a number of interesting displays of small men:
We did encounter a number of places selling Ginjinha. It is a sour cherry liquor. Usually, it is taken in a small cup made with chocolate. It is one of those essential Portuguese experiences to have at least one small cup.
Our favorite Ginjinha store was Mariquinhas. The company has been around since 1949. A young man with perfect English took us aside and explained the entire process. It was here where I tasted not only the Liquor, but also the sour cherry.
We did walk through an alcove. Just big enough for one car to pass through.
It was the most decorated alcove we had ever seen.
I could not help but sit in a large saucer cup. Behind me was this man resting or just “eyeing me.”
There was plenty of beautiful flowers blooming at this time. What was striking, though, was this large vine.
By the church there was a large bunny. I could not help but take a picture of Kathie at this point.
There were beautiful blue skies and the temperature was in the high sixties, just perfect for walking around.
We did come across this sign of “Garlic Shrimp.”
Unfortunately, the establishment that served these shrimps, with the heads off (unlike many other Portuguese restaurants), was closed on Mondays. It just makes me want to come back another time, in another year. Why not!
Our sojourn was but 3 weeks. We did miss seeing the university town of Coimbra. Staying along the Douro River would have been a nice treat. We did understand the city of Porto is quite exhilarating. Then, too, we missed all those islands in the Azores and the island of Madeira. Our future plan is to make a second sojourn to Portugal one of these years. It was that good.
We hope you enjoyed our expose of our sojourn to Portugal in March of 2022. Please join us in future blogs.