Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found within the pages of a passport, beneath cobblestone alleys and the corners of withered castle walls. That’s where true history still remains. The best stories are those you travel to venture the world to experience and create with the memories shared…
The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page. – St. Augustine
For those of you history buffs, lovers of things from others times, and since Game of Thrones makes its final run this Sunday {…stop. I can’t. I. really. really. am not. prepared for this. is anyone?? although, slightly underwhelming lately}………well this Portuguese day trip is for you!!
Óbidos, famed for its medival structure, which is still standing as if centuries have gotten by, and the world, well it’s a whole different kind of world then the one lived within these castle walls. It is a traditional medieval town still structured and operating within the walls of the castle. Yes, just like you see in the days of queens, knights and jousts. Most of the small, but beautiful colored and culturally rich gems almost crammed along the small winding cobblestone alleyways are not only tourist driven businesses, but homes, hotels, restaurants and bars, still decorated showing off just as it would back in the on-teenth century.
If you are one who loves to appreciate the details, even the smallest of ones, especially architecture, then this lovely village will easily transport you back in time. Once you take the chance and walk alongside the fortress walls, catching endless stunning views of rolling greens, farms and vineyards, it’s as if for a moment you can imagine being back in the hustle of medieval days. But beware! This walk around the castle walls are not for the faint of heart, and heights. You’ve been warned…
Entering the draw gate doors, you’re so kindly greeted by a Plague Doctor. Lovely, right.
Below on your right, down the most intriguing little alley marked by an aged white and red peak facade – this is where your trip of Óbidos must start! You’re greeted with an Óbidos’ signature, Ginjinha {Berry Liqueur} in a chocolate cup. Can’t beat that!
You’ll walk past two darling tabernas, with the most picturesque rustic wood tables and stools setup outside, ready for the al fresco lunch rush.
Doesn’t this little nook look like the most perfect spot to catch the early morning sun with a cozy mug of coffee, or tea, basking in the warm comfort of the sun above.
Back up the main cobblestone we went, our eyes being caught firstly by the vibrantly colored homes, each with the country’s signature terracotta roofs, shining bright in subdued hues of yellows and blues. I may have gone a bit overboard snapping photos of many of the homes, simply for their lovely colors, but also their equally lovely doors, which for most might just seem like your typical home piece, for me, they are pieces of this city’s art and history!
Many corners if you looked closely, were marked with various creeping vines and greens, adding literal life to these walls, who if could, would tell tales for the ages. Some corners are marked by sayings, visitors’ names and whatever else chosen to be left for million others to stop and read during the years to come. When you see things like this, wherever on your travels, does it get you down that this piece of history has been forever altered, or do you see it as the present forever wanting to remain remembered in both the past, and the future of Óbidos.
As if forever permanently making their mark on the culture and story of this historical city.
There is no end to places you can enjoy a meal. Almost all with seating outdoors. Of course, this is Portugal, we love being outdoors….and people watching. You’ll have to stop by The Bar which is supposedly the first and oldest in town, still maintaining most of its authentic decor. You’ll find many other spots that fit the medieval theme, some known by the locals, that’s where we somehow ended up for lunch. A bowl of soup for each, caldo verde. Followed by a hearty Francesinha for my father and for me, a shrimp topped, equally hearty, salad with pineapple, corn, veggies and almonds.
Then, a dark, invigorating espresso to get us going up a few more cobblestone roads.
Quickly back to Game of Thrones, if you don’t mind, don’t the steep walls, remind you of the soldiers lining up to attempt to bring down the Mother of Dragons during the battle of Kingslanding. No, just me…? Actually it basically reminds me of any historical show/movie i watch that has their archers line along the walls to shoot.
It was a very sunny and bright warm day when we decided to roam these alleys, which they were beginning the setup for a festival. Of course this place holds one of the best Medieval Festivals in the country. In case you may have not known, they get REAL serious about their Medieval festivals in Portugal. But these huts were going to be used for the equally famed Chocolate festival at the end of April. On tv it looked like a chocolate, and food, lovers paradise!
The huts in this entertainment square reminded me of the smaller huts, used for weapons or important meetings, in war zones. Turns out in 2019, they are just restrooms. Yes, toilets. Nothing cooler.
The small town within castle may seem small but there is sooo much to see if you can just let everything about this gem be seen to you. It has three chapels, one of which has been transformed into a book store, well there goes another a few hours you can use to wandering….
The iconic roof landscape of Óbidos behind, a memory to last a lifetime of a lovely day, two traveling wanderers, roamed alleys and discovered a piece of their cultural history.
Then through the gates we left the castle walls, and on to oriental gardens of Balboa…..
Let’s sidetrack a bit why don’t we, that’s what we do when we travel right? The best experiences are often the ones we take off the beaten path. It’s a detour of words, an irrelevant one would say. This is the first travel post I’ve shared in the last eight months, it really feels likes it’s only been a few months since I’ve shared my travels, but it turns out it’s been quite some time since we’ve gone on an adventure together. At least with today’s trip I can easily picture like it was yesterday, since it was about two months ago.
So to my point…If you’ve been blogging for a few years, did you notice how at one point bloggers, including big designers, stylists, lifestyle personalities were all opening up and sharing more about their personal lives. Then blog reading went down, like real down. Instagram stories became quick snippets you could share in half the amount of the time, thus no need to spend time curating a selection of photographs to fit your post, or write a silolecue or witty recap story of what has been happening in your life lately. The audience no longer wanted to know the story behind the recipe, they just wanted the pretty pictures and quick recipe shot or even better, hyper-lapse video of it being made.
The integrity, the story behind that planner, journalist, designer, stylist quickly lost its spark and very reason for its existence. Thus new blog content was less frequent, bloggers took up collaborations with brands for products, events, and etc. And so another world was created. But I missed that small bit of sharing my life, saying “what’s going on”, that time of sitting down whenever inspiration struck to write down my feelings, like real feelings, and thoughts about whatever recipe, event, design, travel destination, and on the rare occasion life itself. But I especially love to write about travel. Yet, like I most we never seem to have the time. Lately as I near my thirty, in an effort to distract but also fostering really good habits, I’m choosing to fill my personal time, the time I WILL give myself, with things I enjoy doing, like baking, making recipes, gardening, photography, travel, blogging – whatever rocks my boat, I want to say I made sure to make the time for what matters.
These are my favorites to sit down, look through carefully, like going back to that day, channeling that moment and capturing the words to express the experience. Often during my travels I’ll write down little sayings and scribbles of things I love about that place, things I’ve done – this and that – but nothing fluent to anyone but me. So sharing my travels on my blog was my way of bringing these cherished destinations, experiences and journeys to whoever happened to find themselves venturing along the part of the blog world.
But haven’t you heard, imperfection is the thing again! No need for picture perfect, millennial pink covered everything photographs to win it at the Instagram game. These days what’s old, has always been in. People like to see the real life, grainy, out of focus, bad lighting photographs you know you just look forward to deleting. Well, don’t. Sometimes those imperfections are worth showing off.
And so we can say actual blog posts are making a slow comeback return. We’re once again, I think, very very slowly beginning to care about one another on a deeper lever; our stories, journeys – how we can learn and grow from each other to make a better place for all of us. We’re slowly veering away from sharing pretty posts and instead incorporating those fun things but with many more stories of real personal, world, health, and social issues, encouragement and empowerment.
Wherever you go, becomes a part of you somehow. – Anita Desai
That’s what travel can do for us if we are fortunate to have the opportunity to do it!
Yet, most do not. It’s nice to be able to sit and write about the lovely places I’ve seen, but in truth most don’t get to opportunity to see what is beyond what they only see around them. That’s why when I travel I gravitate towards the locals, to see how they live, interact, their customs, the things that makes this place I’m visiting. These are the moments, tokens of treasured knowledge and mental snapshots that I want to always take away from any travel. Most popular, and century old destinations have unfortunately succumbed to damage of tourist influxes and time, while other locations suffer their own civil wars preventing tourists from even seeing their beautiful location.
If we’re lucky enough to be able to travel to different countries I think it’s almost our duty to at least try and find out about the location as much as possible, like really learn what’s going on. Are there causes you can help while you’re there or things you can take part once you return home. Find ways to make your travels become a part of you, more than just photos and memories, but a real part you can always carry with you….
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