Back on our bikes, but our first destination was just the other side of the lagoon. A quest for a good coffee! Where we were staying had coffee, but if you asked for a cappuccino, it was made with instant coffee! The espresso was real coffee, but not very good tasty:(
We located and enjoyed a very good coffee and of course, some sweets and headed out cycling. Along the way we met some mountain bikers and they told us that the route around the Obidos lagoon was totally fine for our bicycles. The one guy laughed and said it was better than the road we were on now, as we pushed our bikes through the sand and up steep hills with loose gravel occasionally.
We got to the lagoon and had another coffee break with a light lunch before we started cycling around the lagoon. It was beautiful and absolutely the right choice! Obidos Lagoon is the largest sea connected salt water lagoon in Europe, with almost 7 square km of surface area and 22 km perimeter. A birders paradise at the right time of year. We saw quite a few heron type birds, but no binoculars or camera good enough to record them.
We found a GPS track that took us on a walking trail from the lagoon into Obidos.
With that last obsticle out of the way, our destination came into view on the top of a hill (of course!)
What a special way to enter a walled medieval town, through the back door with no tourists! It actually felt a bit strange, like we were doing something wrong, but it was totally fine.
Pushing our bikes through the crowds and navigating a few stairs, we managed to find the accommodation that we had booked earlier in the day. With our bikes stowed in the courtyard of the hotel, we headed out for a good beer ( craft beer is hard to find in Portugal) and to explore the walled city.
It is totally insane. They let you walk along the 4 foot wide path with vertical drops (sometimes onto the road!) up to 40 feet below, with no guard rails! Luckily, we had only had one beer, though we did meet a couple during the 1 mile walk around the castle walls that had a glass of wine in their hands and a bottle in their pocket as they strolled around the walls. The wife didn’t seem as comfortable as the husband!
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