Japan - 2

Hi, We spent only 1/2 day touring in Yokohama as we boarded the ship during the afternoon and the weather was steamy.

These views (above and below) were taken from the restaurant on the top floor of the building.

The Diamond Princess on which we would be sailing already was docked.

After breakfast our group headed for the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of History in Yokohama.  As we approached the museum we encountered this small electric city car at its charging station.

Here are two of the items we found in the museum (above and below).

After the museum it was on to the subway for the trip to the Raman Museum.

It really was not a museum as much as it was about 10 Raman Noodle fast food restaurants.

Orders were placed and paid for at kiosks outside each restaurant.

The food really was quite good, as was the Japanese beer.

Manhole covers are quite ornate in Japan.

Docked nearby was this pre World War II ocean liner.  Only later in the cruise did I learn that at least part of the ship actually was a museum that could be visited for a very nominal fee.

Thanks for looking.

Japan - 1

Hi, My Wife, Ruthe, and I arrived in Japan in the early evening of July 15, 2015 after a non stop flight from Washington Dulles International Airport.

We booked two back to back cruises on the Diamond Princess with Road Scholar which included two nights in a hotel in Yokohama along with a day of sightseeing in Tokyo and a 1/2 day in Yokohama.  The hotel, the Yokohama Royal Palace, occupies the top 20 floors of a 70 story building with restaurants on the top floor.  The building is the tallest in Yokohama.

The first cruise concentrated on Hokkaido with a stop on Sakhalin Island while the second cruise concentrated on Honshu with a stop in Busan, South Korea.

Our first full day in Japan was spent in Tokyo.  We traveled via commuter train at the end of the morning rush hour.  A large number of people were still headed to work.

Our first stop was the electronics area as at one time it was an important location for the Shogunate which ruled Japan (above and three below).

There were many stands such as this selling electronics parts.

We took a subway train to our next destination (above and below).  Some of the stations had murals made up of tiles.

Many restaurants had plastic mock ups of their dishes displayed in their windows (above and below).

The Senso-Ji Temple is approached via a long promenade lined with shops (above and below).

Items for sale included these combs used to hold a woman's hair in place, and

these masks.

This a typical street in the area.

The Senso-Ji Temple is large and attracts many people.

These objects were just outside the temple.

Here are two interior views (above and below).

This shrine was on the temple grounds.

From the temple we walked to lunch.

One can still see Rickshaws.

For lunch we had Okonomiyaki, a savory pancake.  The ingredients are placed in a bowl, mixed, and

placed on a hot grill where a pancake is shaped.

After lunch we visited the Tokyo National Museum.

Here are three of the items we saw (above and two below).

I photographed this scene from the back of the Museum.

The view from our room was spectacular, especially at night (above and below).

Thanks for looking.

Great Rivers of Europe - 12

Hi, This is my final post covering the trip Ruthe and I took last spring to Germany and Austria.

While traversing our final stretch on the Danube we encountered this very modern bridge.

In contrast to the modern bridge was this very old river steamer (above and below).

The ship provided a walking tour through Vienna giving us an opportunity to photograph some street scenes (above and two below).

Horse drawn carriages are very popular.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna (above and below).

The day we visited was a religious holiday so there was a mass underway in the cathedral.  Still, we were allowed to take photos.

The area surrounding the cathedral is a pedestrian mall.  The tour guide gave us some free time so I wandered about.  Here are a few of the photos I took (above and four below).

We continued our walking tour past Prunskaal State Hall (The Austrian National Library),

and the Spanish Riding School.  As this was a holiday there would be no practice to observe so we were limited to seeing the Lipizzaner Stallions in their stalls (above and below), and

Hoffberg Wien, the former imperial palace (above and below).

The end of our walk passed through the Volksgarten.  We could see the Natural History Museum and

this cathedral.

Just before exiting the Volksgarten we stopped at this statue of Elisabeth, a former Empress of the Austro Hungarian Empire.

This was a great trip which we really enjoyed.  Thanks for looking.