(Make sure you notice that “streets” is plural. I think the more often you drive the wrong direction, the more likely the locals are to understand. . .that you are a foreign idiot!)
Our Obidos breakfast at the hotel was in the castle, so we had that going for us. But, after a one night stay (that’s all that’s needed in this small town), it was time to leave the city, preferably without scraping up/denting the car.
The clerk showed me the route to get out of the city. No big deal I thought. So I backed down the small hill by the castle. Carol implored me to drive the wrong direction through the two gates I had conquered the day before, on the way into town. I shook her off, saying we should follow the rules (a total unexpected switch in our typical marital situation). The road the hotel clerk pointed out on the map seemed barely wide enough for two pedestrians, much less a car.
I shook that off, while Carol wanted me to turn around (to be fair to me, where exactly would I have turned around?). So I went down the main street. Judging from the raised eyebrows of the locals, I was breaking the law.
One elderly gentleman calmly waved me down a ramp into the town square, which I’m pretty certain did not allow cars. The one possible escape route again seemed too narrow to safely navigate with a car, so I did a Chevy Chase style spin around the square and went back up the ramp. By this point I had surrended to Carol’s wishes. We went the wrong way through the castle gate, having pulled in the side mirrors. I was never so relieved to pass through the second gate and out to safety.
Having done that, we stopped by the Aqueduct. Wrongly believed by many tourists (check out their comments on TripAdvisor) to be built by the Romans, it is “only” six hundred years old. I’m going out on a limb here, but aqueducts are cool.
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