Macau 1 July Day 68

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There are many more things we could have done in Hong Kong, but we couldn't resist to the temptation to go and visit Macau.
Macau is mainly known for its casinos.
When you arrive in Macau, free shuttle buses are waiting for you to bring you straight away to a casino. Instead we consulted our little pocket guide and paid a few pennies to take bus 10A that brought us to the centre.
We discovered the very nice 'largo Senado' a beautiful square where the Portuguese influence is very present. Portuguese is still the official language together with Chinese (cantonese?) in Macao, but very few people can speak it and as they don't speak English either, we had a lot of fun.

The Portuguese left many nice churches, the most impressive one was however being destroyed by a fire, the superb baroque facade is left though and attracts many tourists.

As there is no tax on gold, jewelery shops are omni-present, selling mainly 22 or even 24 carat gold, a bit too yellow for our taste.

We couldn't resist having lunch and later in the day dinner at one of the few Portuguese restaurants remaining. It was a great experience after all the friend rice or noodles we had so far.

The maritime museum is very well organised and presented. The various routes of the Portuguese explorers like Vasco da Gama or Bartolomeo Dias are explained on a world map, but also some Chinese explores. I very much enjoyed this museum, if you ever go to Macao, don't miss it.

To get to Macau from Hong Kong you can if you have enough money take one of these helicopters that provide a shuttle service between the 2 cities. We opted for a jetfoil, a very fast ferry that is almost flying on the water. They operate a service every 15 minutes 24 hours a day and they are almost full! Macao and its casinos seems to be a very popular destination in Hong Kong.

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Photos

Portuguese architecture
Post office

Jetfoil
The Company's name is 'Turbojet'