Falling out of the sky, Macau

Recently, we took a trip to Macau for a long weekend (only 45 minutes from Taiwan!) and despite all of the hype about casinos, we managed to stay well away except for a brief meal in their shadow.  By the way, that meal ended up making both Jenny and I sick, though we probably should have known better than to eat at a non-vegetarian restaurant.

Anyway!  This casinoless trip was tons of fun- we spent most of our days eating delicious egg tarts (蛋撻) and walking the historic streets of Macau.  In fact, after checking out the visitor's center and hoarding all of their English/Chinese brochures, we found out that there are several designated routes around the city that visitors can take explore their UNESCO World Heritage zone.

Wiki Source

Since we love being outside (and the pollution wasn't nearly as bad as here in Kaohsiung), we had a great time stopping at all of the different historical buildings and learning about their histories.  The Portuguese architecture is absolutely beautiful, and there is a certain air of Europe fusion as you walk through the streets.  We even got to check out a large local Mazu temple and a really awesome Maritime Museum once we got to the end of the historic walk near the harbor.

On the last full day we were there, we decided to get a little more ambitious and decided to do a blind wander around the city.  We just picked a direction and started walking, and we ended up exploring a lot of really cool local neighborhoods and some really well-designed parks.  Did I mention we like parks?  

Early in the morning the day we were supposed to leave, we also hiked up the hill behind our hotel to have a look at the weather station and a very old church that had been erected next to it.  Here we learned about the history of the weather warning system used in Macau and Hong Kong, and wandered around the grounds, enjoying the wonderful breeze and views.

You, too, can jump off a building in Macau...

Even if you're not a gambler, I would definitely recommend Macau for a short stay.  The food is great and the architecture and history is wonderfully rich.  Macau is a truly unique place where the best of Asia and Europe meet- definitely worth checking out!