March 3, 2024 Kobe, Japan Day 5 of 24

Today was our second day in Kobe, Japan. We have absolutely loved our time here. The culture, the people, the manners, the cleanliness and the level of customer service we encountered had been impeccable. I started my day by watching the sun rise over Kobe as I had my morning workout. I almost stopped my workout to take a photo, but I have a hard time resuming after I stop. Luckily a FB friend posted one that I can share. Same morning routine of a quick shower and then Megan and I went to the Neptune Lounge for a quick grab and go breakfast. We headed to the Main Stage to meet our excursion group for today. We were off the ship pretty soon thereafter and off to Osaka for the afternoon. We visited the Sumiyoshi-taisha Shrine which is dedicated to sea deities. It is a common place for wedding processions to cross over a beautiful bridge and we got to see one while we were there. Everyone was dressed in their traditional Japanese wedding attire. Another tradition at this shrine is for parents and grandparents to bring their one month old baby draped in a traditional kimono to dedicate them at the shrine. Since today was a Sunday we saw many babies here being dedicated today. There are many stone lanterns and beautiful areas around the park. After Megan and I crossed over the bridge we found a street vendor selling delicious donuts that tasted like fortune cookies. We also had another opportunity to make a purchase at a vending machine. I bought an iced coffee drink and Megan bought a strawberry milk. from here we headed to the Osaka Castle for a river cruise past the castle and some of the city’s manmade highlights. We had a chance to see the castle from the other side of its moat on foot and then got to see it again as we sailed past it in the boat. We were back to the ship by about 1:00pm and decided not to go back out this afternoon. Megan worked on some homework. I crochet for a bit and then we cleaned up the cabin. A couple days of busyness and we needed to tidy a bit. At 4:30pm there was quite a sail away event hosted by the Kobe community. The locals lined the pier with balloons and waved flags as we pulled away. And then on cue they released the balloons they were holding in additional to two large nets that were filled with balloons as well. It was quite a sight to see and I was happy to have been standing on my deck taking part in it. At 6:30pm we met Gail and Marty in the Main Dining Room for dinner. It was a lovely time catching up on our activities over the last couple of days. After dinner I headed home to share my day with all you wonderful people and Megan went for a run. It is bedtime here now. We have a sea day tomorrow so our day will be filled with ship board events and activities. There is always plenty to do and we love the opportunity to get out and about. We are still running to people we haven’t seen since last year and they are excited to see us and we are them as well. We are still getting asked daily if we have been on the ship the whole time which makes me laughs a little on the inside, but I am happy to be here for whatever time we can be. I will say good night from Kobe….next stop Fukuoka, Japan.