It was a quiet sail into the Yokohama harbor. But we thought we might encounter Noah rounding up the animals for the ark as it was rainy no so much! I had organized a walking tour using Tours By Locals and we met upTomi, a gentle older lady who was to be our guide for the day. We headed out of the spacious and modern port complex into the rain. Fortunately there was a convenience store at the exit of the port where I purchased a couple of umbrellas.
Our walking tour took us west to the museum ship Hikawa Maru and Yamashita Park and by the Doll Museum. After a short hike up the hill and past the cherry blossoms, we reached the Minato-no-mirror Oka Park with lots of beautiful flowers and vistas that were somewhat obscured by the low clouds and rain. At the nearby Foreign General Cemetery, we spent some time out of the rain in a room containing historical information about the Cemetery. Following a pretty steep descent, we found ourselves in the Motomachi shopping district with its large collection of high end retail stores. Nearby in Chinatown, we visited an active temple and found a wonderful restaurant to have a bowl of clams and noodle soup.
We caught the Minatomiral subway line to the Yokohama station (210¥ per person) and visited one of the largest and nicest food courts we've ever visited. I could have spent much more time there! Upstairs on the 7th floor we visited a bookstore where our granddaughter purchased some Manga comic books written in Japanese. We then took the subway back to the port area and said our goodbyes to Tomi who showed us just a small fraction of the city. It's quite walkable and there's definitely lots to see. There are excellent maps available in the terminal as well as a very nice tourist information booth.
Back onboard the ship we spred out our wet umbrellas and clothes to dry and adjourned to the Crow's Nest for a soda and a chance to relax before our mandatory muster drill. This one was conducted in the driving rain, so now we have done muster drills in daylight, dark, cold, sunny, and rainy conditions!
We took dinner once again in the Lido before watching the Tom Cruise action movie 'Never Go Back' and the Stage Show 'Listen to the Music' which introduced the entertainment staff. It was also fun to see the newbies walking around the ship trying to get oriented as well as meeting a number of people we have cruised with previously. We finished the evening drinking tea in the Lido which was very sparsely attended probably due to everyone's travel tiredness.
Tomorrow is a sea day on our way to Osaka. Stay tuned.
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