We had time for one last meal and a visit to one more city before heading to the airport. Lunch was at an open-air restaurant on the beach where the view almost made up for the mediocre food:
We drove from the restaurant to Galle, a large city on the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka. As an important port city, it was basically taken over by Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century and is supposedly the best example of a Portuguese fortified city in all of Asia. When the Dutch came in during the 17th century, they added their own touch, making the city an interesting hodge podge of architectural styles.
Our first stop was the fortress. The clock tower was built in 1882 on the spot where the Dutch belfry once stood:
