The bay that Aomori is located on is quite large. We sailed in it for over an hour this morning until we reached our berth. Once a 180° clockwise turn was completed, we slipped sideways into our parking spot poised for an easy deoarture.
Our tour group organized by Carol from Cruise Critic assembled and we were easily off the ship by 8:15am. There was a short delay in finding our guide, but eventually we located her. Yuki was her name and she spoke great English, but had never guided a group before. This led to a few challenges throughout the day as she didn't clearly and loudly set expectations or communicate directions.
It was about an hour to Hirosaki and its famous castle and cherry blossoms. We toured a Samarai house before wandering our way through the park. A striking feature for me of the castle are the many dams that are found in the moat. Also the castle itself dating from 1811 has been moved about 50 meters away from its foundation which is being renovated. It's a 10 year project with 6 more years to go. We also enjoyed a bento box lunch on a tarp in the lawn. It was a bit brisk, however.
We then drove back to the port area to visit the Nebuta Warasse museum with its collection of very colorful lighted floats from the annual Neputa Festival in early August. This was a highlight for me!
Back on the ship we played trivia (not very well) and watched the sail away from the Crow's Nest before our Lido dinner. Today (4/27) is King's Day in Holland so there was a 7:15pm party around the Lido pool. Everyone was encouraged to wear some piece of orange to commemorate the day.
We watched the Bill Murray movie 'Lost in Translation' which was set in Tokyo and Kyoto. While a number of the Japanese cultural scenes were cute, there was a big emptiness conveyed in the film. Afterwards we watched the main stage show, 'Strings Alive'.
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