On March 6th Nonnie and I took the ferry to Macau to celebrate our fortieth anniversary. We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel, a beautiful hotel, which seemed calm and friendly compared to the other casino-hotels we saw. The entire Cotai strip is built on reclaimed land and reminds me of the Las Vegas Strip on steroids: huge and new.
For dinner our friend Yuri had made us a reservation at Albergue 1601, a Portuguese restaurant in a beautiful historic site, and we ate outside under a huge Camphor tree with lanterns strung between the branches. It reminded us both of a memorable meal we had in Rio at a historic Brazilian restaurant more than forty years earlier. It was a perfect evening - they both were!
Three years ago we had made a day trip to Macau and explored the Macau peninsula, so this time we explored Taipa and Coloane, the two islands south of the Macau Peninsula, all connected by bridges. The Cotai strip is the area now filled in between the two islands. Walking around we waw some interesting streets with old colonial buildings, small shops, and cafes. We had coffee at Lord Stowe’s, where they claim to have invented the egg tart, small custard tarts that are popular all over Asia. They were very good! We visited several temples and took lots of pictures.
Monday evening Yuri picked us up at the hotel and drove us to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Yuri is married to Ed’s niece Ann, and we had been to their apartment several times in Hong Kong. Yuri works in Macau during the week, and knows the area well. For dinner we had an excellent meal of antipasto, ravioli, linguini, pizza, and wine.
Both mornings we had long leisurely breakfasts at the hotel buffet. It was a beautiful setting and the choices were overwhelming. Still, my favorites remain fresh fruit, pastry, juice, and coffee. But the breakfast pizza, dim sum, and egg tarts were nice additions.
The high speed ferry ride takes about an hour, and our first class seats were very comfortable. Macau, although part of China, is a special administrative region, like Hong Kong, so we had to go through immigration both ways, but it was very smooth with minimal delays.
In the forty years we have been married we have been to many places and had many great meals. It’s hard to remember them all; it’s hard to believe there have been so many. But the trip to Macau was as good a trip as we have had, maybe our best anniversary yet. And that is good to know, that the best is still happening.
The hotel sent us back to the ferry pier in their van. It was quite comfortable and the driver was very polite. As we got out he said: Good bye and good luck, grandpa and grandma.” I’m sure it was a way of showing respect - in his culture.