Country Article / Postcards

A Night in an Obidos nunnery

Date: 09/17/2007

I feel stupid. Given the key to a third-floor room, I've just asked the Estalagem do Convento's receptionist if the place has an elevator. Why did I think it would? In the shadow of the high Obidos walls, it was originally built in the 1830s to house nuns, not travelers burdened with luggage.

As some readers are aware, I'm not exactly convent material. Trudging up the endless stairs, I'm thankful the whitewashed building has proper rooms instead of spartan cells. However, the $13 starters on its restaurant menu aren't the norm for central Portugal. Although Estalagem means "inn," its prices make many guests feel obliged to dress in their finery to dine here. The cozily dim bar with its beamed ceilings looks enticing, but it isn't a real inn where horny-handed farm laborers and travelers in ratty old jeans hang out.

Too popular for its own good
Including a decent breakfast, double rooms in the "convent" cost a fairly reasonable $74 nightly (e-mail: estconventhotel@mail.telepac.pt). Yet, while I've no complaints about the accommodation-apart from some nasty whiffs from what are probably 19th-century drains-I'd advise against overnighting in Obidos. Go on a day trip from Lisbon, the spa town of Caldas da Rainha, or Peniche (30 minutes distant on the Atlantic coast), and take a picnic lunch.

Why? Because Obidos is now too popular for its own good. Since the 13th century when the tradition started, it was the bridal dowry of Portugal's kings to their queens. Architecturally, "the Wedding Village" is a picture-perfect walled settlement with an imposing castle, cobbled lanes, tiled archways, and a blossom-fest bursting from tiny gardens, flowerpots, and even wheelbarrows.

Undeniably pretty, Obidos attracts thousands of visitors. If you're expecting medieval mystery, it's disappointing. The relentless tramp of tourist feet has completely destroyed any romance or magic. You can barely shuffle along the narrow main street even in March, let alone in summer. The best way to describe it is a must-see tourist trap.

Almost every shop within the walls is now a souvenir outlet stocked with tea-towels, a slew of factory-produced crafts, and other over-priced junk. And the few restaurants seem to operate a cartel: poor-quality food at inflated prices-almost double what you'll pay elsewhere in central Portugal. The same goes for the village's one poky "mini-market." Here soft drinks are more than twice what normal supermarkets charge. Realizing more suckers will be along tomorrow, business owners can get away with such blatant profiteering. Most travelers don't realize there's a proper supermarket (Pingo Doce) down the road in the modern part of Obidos.

After a ludicrously priced dinner, I tried the local specialty: a cherry-chocolate liqueur called ginja or sometimes ginjinha. Although only a tiny glass, (pitifully tiny for $4.90) it's like swallowing an entire box of cherry brandy chocolates in one go. If you're not sweet-toothed, give it a miss.

P.S. The one Obidos agency I came across currently lists a couple of small two-bedroom refurbished houses within the walls for ?249,000 ($324,000) and ?290,000 ($377,000). I'm not prepared to give it publicity as it seems aimed at UK buyers with more money than sense. You can buy similar properties for a lot less through other agents in nearby towns as well as better-value homes in modern Obidos and its surrounding countryside. I'll tell you where to find them in future issues.