Hong Kong -- Macau -- Lighthouse

So, here we were.... citizens of one country, living in another country,

visiting a third country, taking the ferry to yet another country!!

Our travel was compliments of Chow Tai Fook.

Our hour long high-speed trip cost about $330 HKD ($42 US) each

 and included lunch with passage. 

Cheesy hotdog on a stick, muffin, fruit cup, and water.

Hello, Macau!!

Macau, formerly a Portuguese colony, is now an autonomous Special Administrative Region of China. It's about 20 square miles is home to more than 650,000 people making it the most densely populated area in the world!!  

Once we exited the port, we found a guide to carry us around and the first place she just HAD to take us was to the monstrous casinos because "all Americans love the casinos!!"

Grand Lisboa

She really tried to encourage us to go try our luck, but we refrained.

Hotel Lisboa

 This was literally a one-stop snap-snap-snap as she pulled into the center of the intersection and all we had to do was pivot around for each picture!

Wynn

Our first desired stop was the Macau lighthouse in the Guia Fortress.

The really nice thing about having a guide driving us in a car was she was able to drive us to the fortress itself and we didn't have to walk up the hill from way down there!!

That really saved us a lot of time.

Our Lady of Guidance Church

A fitting name for a church next to a lighthouse, I think.

These symbols are hoisted up on the lighthouse representing an approaching tropical storm. The "T" signifies Typhoon 1 meaning a tropical storm is within 500 miles of Macau. At this point it's time to make sure items outside are secure. The symbols then are changed out as the storm draws closer. The "T" is turned upside down to signify Typhoon 3. Then for Typhoon 8 and 9 the triangles are hung points up or point down or a combination to signify the wind direction. When the "+" is hung signifying Typhoon 10, you'd best be prepared as the center of the storm is imminent.

A couple of pics to share:

Perfect timing on this shot, I thought!

 The lighthouse seemed to be a wedding picture spot!

We met back up with our guide then headed to Senado Square and the Macau Museum...