May 5, Tuesday, Hong Kong/Macau

Today we headed to the ferry building to catch a ferry to Macau.  It was a high speed Turbojet but the trip still took an hour.  However, we weren’t able to do any sight-seeing as we were supposed to stay in our seats and we were seated next to a wall so we really couldn’t see anything. 

Upon arrive it quickly became apparent that we hadn’t really prepared for this trip.  However, a friendly entrepreneur (Calvin) quickly sized up the bewildered tourists (us) and offered to guide us on a whirlwind half day visit to Macau. 

First stop was the historic center that included Largo do Senado square The square is covered with a wave-patterned mosaic of colored stones. 

Besides counsel and administrative offices on the square there was also a lot of shopping. 

There were also views of the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, one of the original old casinos in Macao.

Just down the street was St. Dominic's Church.  The church had a distinctive yellow and white Western style façade and the interior was reminiscent of those in any Catholic Church in Europe or the US.

On the way to the fort we saw this interesting goddess statue.

Nearby were Mount Fortress (Monte Forte) and the ruins of St. Paul’s.  Mount Fortress is the oldest fort in Macau and houses the Museum of Macau.  It was originally built to defend the adjacent St. Paul’s from pirates.  Many of the original cannons remain. 

Taking aim at the Grand Lisboa

As a fort on the top of a hill it had great views of the city below.

The fort had lovely gardens.

Nearby St. Paul’s was built during the late 1500’s and was the largest Catholic Church in East Asia.  It was destroyed by a typhoon in 1835 and only the front façade remains.

We then moved on to the A-Ma Temple and surrounding area.  The A-Ma temple is a Taoist temple dedicated to the goddess of seafarers and fishermen. 

Coils of burning incense

This area is where the Portuguese originally landed in the area.  The plaza had the same interesting patterned pavement as seen elsewhere in Macao and the 

The Barra Hill is the second highest hill in Macao and gave us more great views of Macau and the harbor. 

We then headed over to Tiapa Island to do a drive by of some of the major casinos.  Macao is the Las Vegas of Asia and most of the major casinos are on Tiapa Island.  On a lark we decided to stop in to see the Venetian.  It was very similar to the one in Las Vegas.