Macau, Part 1: Downtown

    On another of our free days in Hong Kong, Kelly and I took a day trip to Macau. Again we went by boat, and again the trip took about an hour.
    We were quite surprised by Macau, for we had expected to find a sleepy, quaint little Portuguese outpost that reminded us of the old country. Instead, we encountered a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis. These photos are divided into three parts: downtown, St. Paul's Church and views from the nearby Monte Fortress, and the Jardim de Luís de Camðes.

Here is dead-center downtown, as defined by the Macau Government Tourist Office, the Post Office, the Telephone Office, etc. You can see how bright and sunny it was right after we arrived by bus from the ferry pier. Here the feeling is very Portuguese. The rest of the photos in this part are in no particular order. 

There was a little church at the end of a short walk from the center, St. Dominic's Church.

Macau and its thriving economy, much of it based on gambling, has given rise to new mixed in with old. We were some of the few tourists who did not stop at the casinos.

Kelly photographing some typical Portuguese-style buildings in the downtown area.

This is roughly what she was capturing.

Another scene downtown.

Macau's traffic and the narrow streets make a really bad combination, especially at rush hours. As a result, many people turn to scooters like these. I don't blane them one bit!

Another typical narrow street that is more like a passageway. Here you can see the practical advantage of scooters over cars.

A little, tiny square in the middle of town.

Walking through Macau certainly has its ups and downs

Note the large plants on many of the tiny balconies

I would say shades of Hong Kong, except that the signs were in Portuguese rather than English.

One of the wider streets downtown.

Ahead to Part 2 of Macau
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