Asia trip Day 23 - Kobe, Japan

Monday March 20

This morning we docked in Kobe at 7 am. The headline in the daily hand-out was actually "Kyoto (Kobe), Japan". The harbor was noted in parentheses. We didn't fancy a tour to Kyoto because they were lengthy (8 hours) and expensive. Osaka was very close and the tour sounded good. And it was.

When we had a first look from the ship though we had to laugh. Every town seems to have one of those wheels now. Not all look like the London Eye.

From the bus: see the "I (heart) Kobe" on the building in the middle?

We drove to the Osaka Castle. Here is Wikipedia information.

Our guide showed us that these two huge stones for example were not were thick but cut from the same stone. One is bowing a little to the outside and one to the inside fitting perfectly into each other. And you can see the tool marks on top which were driven into the stone to split it.

Once we were inside we were given free time to walk around. Time to meet back was 10:40 am. We could not go into the Castle Tower because the line was just too long to get tickets etc. 

The plaza side in front of the pond said that on the other side was the best view (photo opportunity). And that was correct. It would have been nice to just sit there for a while. We were so lucky with the weather.

But tourists have no time. We were punctual at the meeting point. Our guide rushed around to count us. She probably had a different number each time. People kept moving slightly around all the time. We all wanted to help and made a line. Two people were missing. We all thought who the missing could be and what they looked like. Our guide rushed around in the area to find them. Oh, we felt so sorry for her. The couple showed eventually up 20 minutes late. (They said they had understood a different time. No appologie) But then we had to find our frantic guide. 

Our guide had told us not to go to the bus but the meeting point because we were going back a different way. She led us through the Plum Tree garden. Those blossoms were almost over but still very beautiful. Every guide on every tour had talked about the cherry and plum blossoms. Such a highlight here in Japan.

Back in the bus. This is part of our tour discription:

Visit two icons in Osaka that represent vastly different time periods: a classic 16th-century castle and a modern high rise. Magnificent Osaka Castle consists of 13 structures that include gates, moats and gunpowder storehouses. The nine-story donjon at its center is adorned with golden sea creature ornaments and is so distinctive that the government has designated the castle an Important Cultural Asset and the cherished symbol of Osaka. While touring the exterior, you will learn about the castle’s construction, particularly its massive stone wall. 

For a modern perspective of the city, you will ascend to the observation deck of towering Umeda Sky Building. Completed in 1993, the twin-tower glass-and-steel high rise offers a stunning, 360-degree view of Osaka and beyond to Awaji Island. Nearly 3 million people live in Osaka, so you can imagine the urban sprawl nearly as far as you can see. 

It is a fascinating building and I was looking forward to the view.

At the very top you could not look just straight down but it was a clear day to see very far.

A story lower was an inside area with large glass windows but there of course you had the glare. I do like to look straight down. 

A reminder of the blossom festivals right now.

Back down on the way to the parked bus a quick photo of the "Wall of Hope" all done with different plants with different textures and slightly different colors.

With my new roaming feature I could see where we were going. The blue dot of our position is right on top of the word Osaka.

After the first two tours I gave up  bringing the Oceania embroidery project on the tours. I just HAVE TO look out of the window. I wasn't fast enough to take a photo but there were many young people here. Many girls were wearing kimonos. Our guide told us that it is graduation time.

Back on the ship. We are in the Horizons, listening to music and playing cards.

I find this building intriguing. Looked a bit churchy. Wondering what it was I took a zoomed photo and googled on "Estacion de Kobe". The answer: wedding venue.

It was dark a quarter past 6pm. 

The city lights were pretty but we had to laugh. Not only seems every city has to have one of those wheels. They also have to change their colored lights. Want to see some more colors?

This evening we had the "right" escargots on the menu. They were very good but the bread sticks not so much. Only had a small bite but took a very soft roll out of the bread basket.

That was so much better. Later the head of the dining room came by with the chef with his tall hat and asked whether everything was satisfactory. Of course it was and we said so. I did add though that I used different bread and the chef whole-heartely agreed with me and said that "corporate" insisted for him to serve with those bread sticks. He himself would use what I had used. I told him that "corporate" should listen to him and we all laughed.

Nothing to change with the scallops. Very very good.

This nights main entertainer was Master Magician Leo Ward. His credentials said that he had performed several times for the British royals and mentioned (former) Prince Charles and Camilla.  We enjoyed the performance and met him later on the stairs and had a chat with him.

Another nice day again. By now we have met a lot of different people. Quite often we had meals together and met again on different tours. There are so many different nationalities not even mentioning the crew. Most are from the USA with Canada second but also lots from England, from Australia and New Zealand, and many Germans which surprised me. It's fun.