This is our last port in Japan. Otaru is the port city for Sapporo. There was an excursion into Sapporo but it was 6 hours and we just don't like going for that long, unless it's something really special like into Berlin which we did years ago.
This morning we saw Peachie, the head of housekeeping. We had dinner with Brandon and Peachie on our Eastern Med cruise last October. (We think they might be an item since Brandon is also on this cruise and I think they arrived at the same time.) She gave me a big hug and said we should try to have dinner together again, which would be fun. Hope it happens.
Our tour today was called "Highlights of Otaru". Our guide, Hanomiko, was very good and shared more about her personal life than any other I can remember. She has 3 grown children: the eldest daughter went to school at Oregon State for one year; her second daughter went for a month to Australia; and her son didn't want to go away from Japan. When her kids were in middle and high school, she went to Vancouver for work for one year. She said it was only one year, so it wasn't too hard for her children! She also said she sort of enjoyed the single life during that time. She and her husband are separated (mmmhhh, a connection there perhaps?); he lives with his mother (perhaps taking care of her, but that wasn't stated) but they have a very good relationship and go on a date once a week. She travels a fair bit and he always gets her to and from the airport. See what I mean about sharing? Michael was rolling his eyes, but I found it sort of interesting.
Our first stop was at the Old Aoyama Villa. This was built in the mid-19th century by the only daughter of a very wealthy fish merchant (daddy's money I believe) and it was really lovely. Photos were only allowed outside or in the entry hall with a stunning ceiling.
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| That is snow on the side of the road. It must have been a lot to still be around. It was in the low 60s this morning, but the rain came in the afternoon. |
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| These beautiful roof shingles are made from cement. Most of the cement is made with the volcanic ash from the area. |
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| Be sure to blow this up and read the description. |
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| The ceiling was covered in these flower paintings and there are no repeats. (My photos overlap so you may see the same painting.) As you can judge by the chandelier in the picture, this was a very large room, which I didn't get a photo of. |
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| This is a photo of a photo of one of the rooms that we saw, but couldn't photograph directly. |
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| These screens covered part of a wall in the entry hall. |
The bathrooms were very interesting. Hanging on the wall was a sort of combination toilet/urinal in pretty painted ceramic with two places to put your feet strategically placed in front in the same ceramic. One room seemed to be front-facing, the other rear-facing. No pictures allowed, unfortunately.
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| There's a pretty canal running through town that used to be edged by warehouses but is now shops and restaurants. |
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| The carp "kites" are part of an upcoming celebration of "children's day" where everyone celebrates the good health of their children. |
The next stop was at the usual fish market. Mercifully, it was small and Hanomiko said she would cut some time from that to give us more time at the shopping stop. The fish market was just like the others we've seen, but we took advantage of the restrooms and ran into Jan/Tom so we chatted with them while we waited for our group to head back to the bus.
When we arrived at the shopping street, we told Hanomiko that we would just do our own thing and then walk back to the ship which wasn't far away. That was a mistake.
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| We went into a music box museum and shop to browse. This listening box was there and the sign invites you to sit and enjoy the enhanced sound. It was really amazing to hear the somewhat tinny music turn into full, rich orchestral sound when you sat back. |
When Otaru was primarily a fishing village they used glass balls for the nets, but that industry has changed to different netting systems now, so the former glass ball makers have converted to other beautiful glass wares. There was one store with Murano glass from Italy, but the others seemed to proudly offer Made in Japan glass.
After spending every last paper yen, we decided to go back with the bus after all since we were right nearby and it was departure time. Hanomiko wasn't at the bus yet, but we got on anyway. On the bus, I was working on my photos on my phone not paying attention when Hanomiko counted us. Michael saw her nod at him and assumed that she realized we had come back after all. As we were pulling out, I noticed that 2 little old Japanese women weren't in their seats in front of us. Then I saw them on the street heading towards the parking lot, but we were in the back of the bus and on the road already. Michael said not to worry about it because there were 3 or 4 other Regent buses there and they could get a ride on one of them. Of course I worried! As soon as we got off the bus 10 minutes later, we alerted Hanomiko about the mistake. We also gave her the umbrella and bag that they had left on the bus. She was quite upset but conferred with the man directing the tour buses. They must have called one of the other guides at the parking lot to collect them. She thanked us profusely for telling her since she hadn't remembered that we were the two who were going to walk home and so thought her count was right. Twenty minutes or so later we were sitting at a window having lunch and saw the ladies arrive and Hanomiko apologizing profusely. They didn't seem too upset, at least in their body language, but I still feel bad about it.e
Since we're leaving Japan, we had to do the exit through immigration again. Another stamp for the passport.
Carol feels she may be coming down with a cold so she skipped Trivia. We got only 8/15 so no points for us. After that, Michael and I put down a deposit on a cruise from Miami to Santiago beginning next January that also sails for 3 days in the Antarctic. They were having a great promotion, so we took advantage.
Dinner for the six of us (no Carol) was at Prime 7 and it was really good again. We learned today that there is a secret dining room for the exclusive use of the highest suite (Regent or Owners Suite, I think) and we were given a quick peak at it. It seats up to 12 and is beautifully decorated.
Phil, Tom and I actually made it to the show tonight - Greg Moreland who does a magic act with lots of comedy and audience participation. He was pretty good - at least we made it to the end of the show.
We move the clocks forward one hour tonight and will be doing so for the next few nights I think.
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