Noon Report: So…Today wasn’t a formal sea day. That’s because we arrived at Shimizu port at 6:00 pm. But since we didn’t have anything scheduled this evening we were able to treat it like a full sea day. Second…This being the Friday after the third Thursday (back home) I was in a meeting from 1:00-3:30 […]
Noon Report: EXCURSION: Ancient KyotoToday was a long day.We docked in Kobe but saw very little of the city, opting to take a 9 hour excursion to Kyoto instead.Our bus left the port at 9:30 which put us in this ancient capital city in time for lunch. Lunch was served at the Tenryu-ji Zen Temple.
Noon Report: APRIL 17 (We spent 2 days in Hiroshima – which are reported together below) Out on the deck this morning I spotted a friend resting in the sun. Tradition holds that crickets bring good luck, and though David will tell you this isn’t a cricket I’m claiming the luck anyway. We docked at
Noon Report: EXCURSION: Buddhas, Castle & MonkeysToday was a fairly long day so we got an early start. CastleEventually we arrived at our first stop, the site of the Usuki Castle ruins. LunchOur next stop was a traditional Japanese lunch, but without any explanation about what we were eating or how to eat it. The
Noon Report: But check out the palm trees in that photo. Our morning started in the usual way and since we had nothing on the calendar until afternoon we took advantage of the inclement weather to do a bit of catching up on Blogs and such. EXCURSION: Kagoshima Scenic RideWe donned rain gear and headed
Noon Report: BREAKFAST: Mamsen’sWe had a fairly late excursion this morning so we took advantage of the time to enjoy a waffle. EXCURSION: Scenic NagasakiAt 8:55 we headed to the dock to get in line with 928 of our closest friends to clear immigration (our first port in Japan). 45 minutes later we were on
Noon Report: It was a normal sea day: Exercise, Breakfast, Lots-o-Lectures interspersed with short periods of rest and refreshment. So here’s the rundown: LECTURE: Sakurajima and Other Explosive Active Volcanoes FORUM: Confucius: He Said What? A forum is different from a lecture. It’s intended for a smaller group (though whoever decided that didn’t know Viking
Noon Report: We awoke this morning as we were pulling into the harbor at Keelung (the port for Taipei) INTO TOWNWe boarded our bus and began our 45 minute ride into Taipei.As we have seen in other Asian countries, the bus was extensively decorated. But the air conditioning worked so we were happy.Immediately on leaving
Noon Report: Today was a sea day – the first of 3 on this cruise.We started in the normal fashion – earning those calories.Back at the cabin we got cleaned up and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading down to the Theatre for the first of today’s lectures: There wasn’t a lot new in this
Noon Report: Over breakfast we watched student groups taking tours of the bridge of the MV Xue Long docked across the wharf from us (see the post from Monday). After breakfast we took advantage of a quiet morning up in the Explorer’s Lounge to do a bit of reading, blogging, and chatting with Mike and