drron29

It's one of the few wines that if it is on for the night I ask for an alternative.

The next day we were off to Osaka for Christmas. however we had a late checkout and we had decided to catch the 1.20pm train to Osaka. So a free morning and I decided to do one of my back street walks. Gives you a different view of the city. It was recycling day. People bring their bags to a pick up point. Though an enterprising young fellow had about a dozen bags tied to his bicycle and arms and making off with his collection. Ended up back at the shopping street. something for everyone. Fruit. Temples. Seafood. General wares. Street food. Flowers. And a shop called Foodjunkie. Being a morning supply vehicles made it interesting. I noticed this entrance. So went exploring. a lovely place to live.

It is. You can book excursions as soon as you book which means if you book close to the day of embarkation you often miss out. it changed not too long ago and IHMO is a mistake. And this comes from someone who has already booked our 2026 cruises. As to dinner reservations bookings open at 120 days out and online those book out quickly especially for Silver Note. however officially 50% of the reservations are meant to be available for online bookings and the other half for bookings on board. So as soon as you board see the Restaurant Manager or the restaurant itself to book what you want. Some get there butlers to do it but that can be hit or miss. Some butlers are excellent and some are a bit slower and you may miss out. So dinner reservations may not show because it is more than 120 days to your cruise or because your cruise is less than 120 days away.

Time to go to dinner. I suggested the yakitori place but it failed as our son found a much better yakitori place a little further away. When we arrived it did indeed look a much better yakitori place and it even had a decent wine list. Unfortunately it also had a sign on the door saying fully booked tonight. So we back tracked and went into a shopping street as usually a few restaurants. Well there were but most had between 2 and 10 seats so we weren't going to fit. We passed a pizza place which I pointed out and the grandkids thought it looked good but again overruled. After about 15 minutes the pizza restaurant became the only real choice. So in we went. There was an English menu but the server didn't speak any English so pointing was the way to order. Also there wasn't that much English on he English menu An unusual place. 2 of the children wanted ginger Ale. Here it is. But it really was ginger ale. The pizzas appeared 2 at a time. But there were excellent and some that you wouldn't get back home. Mushroom. I had the spicy fish roe. And it was spicy. Our son had the vegetable pizza. 2 of the kids had the Neapolitan with an egg. They both said one of the best that they have had. The others had the margherita pizza. Turned out to be a great family evening. As I was leaving the man and woman doing the cooking asked how it was. One simple word caused them to celebrate. Oishii. The shopping street at night. And the garden lights back at the hotel.

Virgin voyages are expecting the problems in the Red Sea to continue at least for another year. They have already abandoned the Australian 24/25 cruising season because of the Red sea problem. " Virgin Voyages has announced a number of changes to their upcoming Australian summer season aboard Resilient Lady. This includes the outright cancellation of any sailings in Australia later in 2024 and early 2025 due to the fall out of the Red Sea issues. Due to heightened tensions in the region, the Resilient Lady had to reroute its sailing through the Suez Canal for the 27 March half world voyage to return to Europe. A host of new itineraries are expected to be announced on Thursday (29 February), stay tuned to VV Insider for the latest updates." https://vvinsider.com/virgin-voyages-cancels-australian-2024-2025-summer-sailings/

We have a famous American in Australia at the moment and half of Australia have absolutely lost it.

An interesting walk back from the Museum basically alongside the train tracks. one section was industrial but one place had a good display of flowers. But then I looked at the name on the building. Caught the shuttle from Kyoto station. It passes a huge temple complex on the way back to the hotel. And tonight a 4.30pm sunset.

So just a few of the exhibits in the museum. They do design different trains in Japan. First some of their history. The first mass produced locomotive in Japan. And their first successful electric train. Other exhibits. A wonderful model train set up. It was time for lunch. naturally the cafe overlooks the train lines. almost constant traffic. And my lunch. A bowl of miso ramen with pork and an egg. And yes i cracked the egg into the ramen and slurped it down with great gusto. The old Japanese fellow beside me gave me the thumbs up. I then had to pay a visit. The rest rooms were very clean. I had noticed many dads with very young boys. So the cubicles came with this. Then outside. You could get steam train rides. Then the roundhouse full of steam locos. And over the road the Royal Park hotel had put old trams to good use.

Well we are low maintenance but still chat with our butlers and room attendants. most have been wonderful and a few have gone above and beyond. What really pleased us was the last cruise on the Muse. We could hear the TV from next door and it was quite lound. Our butler went next door and they had it on very loud so it was turned down. It made little difference. Maintenance came up and couldn't fix it. So the next day whilst everyone else was out on excursions our butler and room attendant went next door and had a very good look at their TV. Turned out that someone had taken the sound bar down and then put it back the wrong way round. Could only hear the very slightest noise if you concentrated on that after they fixed the problem. So butlers are very useful even if you don't think so. They are also able to progress. Our very first SS butler became an HD on SS and now has a senior management position at Viking.

That night the family went off to a Fire ramen restaurant. very small and you have to queue for some time. As it was freezing we decided on a nearby Yakitori restauran but it was closed so went to a cheap Izakaya across the road, Very basic. Order and pay by machine and hand your ticket to the cook. No English so Google translate saves the day. We shared some gyoza and chicken Karaage and I had a bowl of spicy Udon. The next morning i walked around the small hotel gardens. Surprising how much autumn colour there still was. And the small post office across the road from the hotel. We then caught the shuttle to the station and walked around the mall. I left Rojaan there and I went off to the third place I wanted to visit. That shinkansen is the first one to enter service way back in 1964.

Now the scenes everyone comes here to see. Very hard with the crowds to get a shot with no one in sight. And this is the point where I turned around and the family continued to climb the hill. But going down there were far less people. All the Instagrammers need to be on the summit for sunset. And this is where the Up and down tracks meet. apparently too late to get to the summit. Waited for the family and we strolled down the street which had many food offerings. First I had Takoyaki. Then Taiyaki but not the advertised variety but one filled with custard. Going down we caught the sunset. And finally back to the train station.

n the late afternoon I went with the family to Fushima Inari. The only major shrine in Kyoto I hadn't visited as Mrsdrron doesn't climb hills. Not far by train and the Tori gates start on the platform. Then you cross a river. And 2 train lines. Then start to walk up hill. Lots of temples. And finally to the rows of Tori gates.

The last of the gardens. Still some autumn colours but the winter camelias starting to flower.

The walk around the Gardens continues. So I climbed the base of the Keep. good vantage point.

We have been to Kyoto on several occasions and have seen most of the popular sites. I planned on visiting 3 places. The first was just across the road - the castle. The family went off. They had a full program whereas we could just take our time. It is though 1300 yen to enter with no senior discount. Through this gate is the real star of the place. The Palace. Shoes off and no photography inside. It is Magnificent. A place of history. Built by the first Shogun in 1603. Added to by the third Shogun. But in 1867 the fifteenth Shogun handed back power to the Emperor in this palace thus preventing a terrible civil war. Now off we go around the gardens surrounding the Palace. And another demonstration how particular they are in looking after nature.

And what better way to redeem myself than food pictures. First is the breakfast buffet at the hotel. When you first walk around it doesn't look much. lots of small plates like this with the bacon offering. But the bacon never ran out. they were constantly replenishing every thing. The thing I enjoyed most was the fruit selection. We both really love persimmons especially the Japanese varirty. I can't think of any other place where they were an option. So a bowl of persimmon and blueberries started each breakfast. I liked the chicken and pork dumplings. I also loved the marinated seafood and the marinated smoked salmon. Regular salmon was nice. But I didn't go for the peach buns. After my fruit I would have a cold plate then a hot plate. They changed from day to day.

I'm very sorry. I am a naughty little boy and have given myself a couple of slaps. So tonight no blue humour but back to images of Japan.

But the Moon took 30 days to sail from Athens to Mumbai. The ship is to leave Singapore on May 5th and it's first cruise in the Mediterranean is from Athens on June 6th just 32 days apart. Now they could cancel the first 2 Med cruises instead of the Singapore - Mumbai cruise. The problem is those 2 cruises although less days are both selling for more than the Singapore Mumbai cruise. Beab counters being what they are I think I know the cruise that would be cancelled.