Thursday, March 31, 2016: Obidos to Setubal:

Due to what we wanted to do today we told our host last night that we needed breakfast around 9:00 am.  This will be the earliest we have eaten breakfast on this trip!  Our accommodations, the “Casa do Fontanario”, was in a house dating from the XV (15^th) Century.  Breakfast was served in the cutest area on the lower level. 

Thank goodness the sun was shining this morning.  However heavy clouds were in the northwest.  We did not know what to expect from those clouds.  In the end they went around us, just giving us cloudy conditions. 

We packed and put our things in the car, before we began walking inside the Medieval Walled City of Obidos.  As I said last night our “Casa” was by one of the entrances into the walled city. We could not have found a better location last night. 

Inside the walls, every turn was cute - cute houses, cute street views, etc.  The views from the wall, of the valley below, were also splendid.  It simply is a charming old medieval town.  We agreed it is a ‘MUST STOP for anyone visiting Portugal.  It was only 60 km north of Lisbon right along the main highway going north and south.

Our Hotel for the night

View of orchards in the valley from the castle

Castle and Cathedral

Obidos from the city wall

Walking along the city wall - No Guard Rails

City Gate

Pastry Shop

Chocolate Shop

Our entrance  to the city

Views of the Valley from the City Wall

Churches in the city

It was finally time to get on the road back to Lisbon.  Our daughter, Cherie, has a workshop in Lisbon.  The facilitators meet on Thursday evening for dinner and a last-minute planning session.  She needed to check-in around 3:00.  We will aim to have her there by 2:30.

Orchards beginning to bloom

Heavily pruned trees

On the way back to Lisbon we wanted to stop at the Palace of Queluz.  It is known for its fine Gardens & Palace and we were not disappointed. We were doing well with time, so we stopped for a cup of coffee before tackling the traffic of Lisbon!  We dropped Cherie at the Intercontinental Hotel with time to spare. 

Street view of Queluz Palace

Garden view of Queluz Palace

Inside the Palace

Palace Chapel

Cal & I are now by ourselves!!  We are planning to drive south of Lisbon and visit the southern part of Portugal.  So off we go, driving south across the 25^th of April Bridge, which is built by the same architect as the San Francisco Bay Bridge.  We saw the “Cristo Rei” statue, snapping a photo from the bridge. 

Suspension Bridge

Cristo Rei

We continued south to the ocean-side community of Sesimbra where we wandered around for a short while before driving the coastal road to Setubal.  This was one curvy road!  With ocean views at many of the curves.  The fishing harbors of these two towns are known for their colorful fishing boats.  We definitely enjoyed the harbors in each of the towns.  In Setubal we looked for a hotel for the night and are very happy with what we found. 

Sesimbra Harbor

Off Loading their Nets

Setubal Harbor