Óbidos, the castle on the mountain

Normally monuments that rise more than 20 feet in the United States have tons of bars protecting people from falling off the side of walls if there are no railings, or they don't let you get on the monument at all and you have to take a picture from below. Well, we were not in the United States. We were in Europe and that meant that the castle was our playground!
Grandma decided to rest at the end of the day. It was only 7:00PM and we needed a little bit of dinner, so we decided to explore the grounds. We hiked up the big steep hill that took us to the village of Óbidos. Only about 100 families live in Óidos and the entire village is surrounded by a beautiful stone wall that rises at least 50 feet in the air. We entered through a large arch and when you walked in, yet again another Harry Potter comparison, it felt like you had just stepped into the magical world of Gringgots! There were tiny houses along the cobble stone streets right next to each other. The road sloped upward just slightly until it finally reached the castle. Before going to the castle Rachel and I had crepes and ice cream while SG had a ham sandwich. She was shocked to discover when asking for a ham sandwich she really just got ham and bread. We had our first moment of missing American food, "no lettuce, tomato or anything else?" But we happily ate and planned our adventure through the medival town.
We walked through the village and up and down the stone steps and explored the little houses with tiny little doors and windows. We came upon a clearing right before the castle and looked out onto the sunset. It was beautiful. Too bad I had forgotten my camera, but it was something I will never forget. The view looked out onto the mountains and the farms below. I seem redundant by saying that it all seemed so magical, but it really was. It was as if we had gone back in time.
We explored the castle and looked at the stables. SG proceeded to climb these large steps that led up to the very top of the castle. She looked back at Rachel and me and proceeded to say, "Are you coming?" Well, we were definitely up for the challenge. We climbed the huge stone steps until we reached the very top. The view was beautiful!!
We climbed down and decided to start to head back to the hotel. We started to walk, but we weren't very clear on how to find the exit. Sarah Grace decided to climb another huge stone stair case that rose to the top of the wall that surrounded the village. I watched her with anticipation. It was quite high. She disappeared and we couldn't hear her anymore. We called her name. She responded back with, "I think I can find a way out." Before I could emplore her to wait, just like a Portuguese explorer, she had already taken off. Rachel and I looked at each other, what were we to do? So we followed her. We climbed the high staircase that had no banister. We got to the top and we were at the very top of the wall. We could see the entire village below. The path that went along the walk could not have been more than four feet wide. Sarah Grace was up ahead going as fast as she could. Didn't she tell me just yesterday that she was afraid of hights? Rachel and I sure were and we steadily made it along the wall. I was in flip flops and was almost sure that I was going to slip and fall to the village below. Maybe some beautiful Portuguese man would catch me?
We had walked too far because we couldn't see Sarah Grace and we were definitely way past the entrance. My Portuguese worry wart sindrome was getting the best of me. Rachel and I decided to climb down and who should be at the bottom but Sarah Grace. I need to have more faith. She is almost 20 after all.
We walked home, played an evening game of banana grahms and went to bed. Tomorrow is the last day of our travels by vehicle and then we are off to LISBOA! :)