Did we accidentally go to Portugal?

Trip Start Aug 24, 2008
1
25
129
Trip End Jul 07, 2009


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of China  ,
Wednesday, November 26, 2008

We took the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau which took about an hour. We then queued for an hour to get through immigration! Yet more pages of my passport were used up and then we checked into a rather grotty hotel. We had lunch in a little cafe called Margaret's which did amazing sandwiches with loads of filling and lovely little Portuguese egg tarts. Macau is an old colony that used to belong to Portugal so people speak Portuguese and there are Portuguese restaurants. The architecture is very European and we actually felt like we had gone to Portugal. It was a very relaxed and warm place and we liked it a lot.

We walked around the historical sites in the city centre including the main square with it's mosaic floor, and various churches and cathedrals, including the ruins of St Pauls. Everything was painted in pastel shades which looked pretty against the blue sky. We climbed the fortress for a view over the city and watched the sunset. For dinner we ate Macanese food which consisted of African Chicken (yummy!) and grilled fish (also yummy!) with Portuguese wine.

The next day we visited the island of Coloane where we sat on the beach, ate at a delicious Portuguese restaurant where I had steak and sangria and David had grilled sardines. After lunch we went to explore the town where we noticed how relaxed and laid back the main square was with its little cafes and church painted yellow and white. It was so peaceful, it felt completely different to the craziness of the rest of China. We went back to town and had some sandwiches and cheesecake at Margaret's.

The last day in Macau we continued to look at the historical sites, including A-Ma temple. We went all the way back to Coloane for lunch in a lovely cafe that did pie and had a huge spider behind the door in the toilets. We then took the cable car up to the highest point and looked at the lighthouse and the views of Macau and mainland China. We went to the Grand Prix museum where we got to ride in a simulator, but then we had to return to Hong Kong on the ferry, arriving late at night.
Slideshow Print this entry Hong Kong hotels