drron29

They do have large grounds which would be colourful in late April or beginning of May. The first sakura buds. We stopped at the store and had an Hokkaido ice cream.

Time now for the excursion to the Trappistine Monastery and Goryokaku Park. From the bus - And we arrive at the Monastery.

I certainly have seen men offered a jacket and tie on formal nights at Atlantide. I have seen men turned away for not wearing a jacket but I can't remember a man wearing a jacket butno tie ever been turned away. As to shoes I had a very sore toe for a few days. My Sketchers were much more comfortable and are black so I wore them on 2 formal nights and no one commented. But on the classic ships I can;t see why you would not take a jacket. It does not have to take up extra room in your bags. I just wear it onto the plane.

On our last 2 Muse cruises we were asked if we wanted to share a table in Atlantide. When we want to cancel a reservation at a restaurant we always ring reception and they cancel it.

Sorry for your situation. On the other hand at least SS is not waiting until the last minute. I fully expect our May 25 cruise Singapore to Doha to be cancelled for the same reasons.

In my experience real medicos have absolutely No influence on Government or the Health bureaucracy.

The king wanted to go fishing, and he asked the royal weather forecaster the forecast for the next few hours. The palace meteorologist assured him that there was no chance of rain. So the king and the queen went fishing. On the way he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting. The fisherman said, "Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time I expect a huge rainstorm." The king replied: "I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages. He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him." So the king continued on his way. However, in a short time a torrential rain fell from the sky The King and Queen were totally soaked. Furious, the king returned to the palace and gave the order to fire the meteorologist. Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster. The fisherman said, "Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting. I obtain my information from my donkey. If I see my donkey's ears drooping, it means with certainty that it will rain." So the king hired the donkey. And thus began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government. The practice is unbroken to this date

That night it was our trivia team dinner in Indochine so a lively night of discussion. Only took one photo of the Tom yum soup as it was excellent. We awoke the next morning docked in Hakodate next to a Museum ship. Mt. Hakodate. Two of the rarely seen deckhands doing a great job on the hand rails - sanding then varnishing. Only got to see them as our excursion was moved from an 8.30 start to a 1.30 start.

I had a long afternoon walk on Deck 11. Sunset was quite early so I watched it progress.

Some views from the ship. There were some mosaics on the wharf.

A different Lawson's. This is in the north of Honshu between Hirosaki and Aomori and the mountain is Iwate. The locals dub it Fujisan. 5 days after that picture we were in Kawaguchiko for 3 days and drove past the famous Lawsons several times. But that was before it hit the news so no pictures taken.

The Japanese farewells are done by the locals. Silversea does not pay for them. As I gave said before our best Japanese farewell was at Kanazawa but we were on a Hebridean cruise ship.

A few shots from the bus back to the ship. Aomori is known for it's apples. The Fuji apple was first grown by the Agriculture research Station at Fujisaki, Aomori in the 1930s but wasn't commercially grown until 1962, now the largest growers are China and the USA. So this are one of the extensive apple orchards in Aomori. Back on the ship for lunch which we had at the Grill. Mrsdrron had her Caesar salad and I had a burger. Much improved from the one on the first sectot probably because of many more Americans on board for this sectot around Japan. J am aware some did complain about the terrible burgers.

It’s probably a meeting of the SS experts committee who meet onboard a ship every two to three months with the CEO. Our TA is a member of that committee and she is away at present.

I think either the Restaurant manager or the HD was leaving in Yokohama when we got off on April 17th but not completely sure.