We made one more pass at seeing cherry blossoms during our last full day in Tokyo. We hopped the ship’s shuttle bus to the Ginza district, which is the 5th Avenue of Tokyo. Once there, we headed off to Ueno Park, since my Sakura Navi app said there were full blooms. BUT, the information staff…
Keep readingSpoiler alert – my pic gives it away. Today we had an adventure that turned out to be a very expensive lunch and a photo op at a truck stop. Not our best day. Our quest – Mt Fuji and Hakone National Park. The weather looked beautiful until we got up into the mountains and…
Keep readingI feel like no trip to Japan would be complete without a visit to explore Kyoto. That being said, we were going to have to hustle and do some planning to maximize our opportunities to see the area. Our closest port was Kobe, and the good news was we were in Kobe overnight. Also good…
Keep readingIt was a perfect day to be outdoors! Sunny, breezy, and temps in the high 60s. Finally! We spent the morning sailing the inland sea between some of the hundreds of islands that make up the Japanese archipelago. The port at Takamatsu is impressive. Beautifully paved and landscaped, the local business community seemed to be…
Keep readingToday was another dreary day – maybe just the type of setting to visit the somber Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, Peace Memorial Park, and Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like a visit to the 9-11 Site in NYC, there is no way to really capture the suffering caused by these horrific events. The flame…
Keep readingSeeing Kokura Castle and Castle Park was at the top of my list in Kitakyushu. It was finally a gorgeous, sunny day as we docked in Mojiko and took a short ride to the Castle Park. The park was small and the cherry trees late – so it was very disappointing. Seeing the castle, built…
Keep readingWhen you post from long distances, sometimes things don’t go perfectly. While hanging out in LA with good WiFi (since our flight to Miami was canceled), I decided to review my site production pages. A few pics never uploaded and this post about Matsue Castle and the Horikawa River was missing altogether. Who knows what…
Keep readingWhat an incredible city. Kanazawa is filled with the clean lines of modern new buildings, harmoniously blending with historic Japanese architecture – some dating from the 1600s. We finally had warmer weather today – with temps reaching a perfect 60, no rain, and cloudy skies clearing to a bright sunny day. A great setting for…
Keep readingToday we arranged an off-ship walking tour. Through Viator with a firm called Edge of Niigata, this was one of the few we scheduled that has worked out. Due to the current shortage of guides in Japan, we’ve had several canceled, making it much more of a sure thing to arrange through the ship. I…
Keep readingWhen the Captain starts his morning port arrival message for Akita by saying “ . . .it’s snowing, the most I’ve ever seen,” you know that can’t be good. And it was really coming down. As we slid into port, it looked like we were docking in Siberia (or at least what I could imagine,…
Keep readingToday was freezing. Literally. As we cruised into Aomori, Japan the snow-covered Hakkoda Mountains were lovely. Mount Iwaki, a still active volcano that last erupted in 1863, looms dominantly over the horizon. Our northernmost stop on this itinerary, the area is famous for apples, supplying most of the country from their three million trees. We…
Keep readingI chose our hotel, The Palace Hotel Tokyo, for its proximity to the Imperial Palace and garden views. It made it so easy and relaxing to stroll across the street to the East gate (Ote-mon) and enter the Palace grounds. Free to the public, the extensive grounds cover 280 acres and feature wide open spaces,…
Keep readingWe will be in Tokyo more than a day, but I will start this tale with our first day being (mostly) awake. It was a wonderful day. Temps were in the 50s, with brilliant blue skies, and gusty winds in the afternoon. Today our focus was history and culture. Good fortune was with us when…
Keep reading
