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Sunday, July 16, 2017

Matt's Vacation - The Cruise Begins

Dear Family and Friends,

Sunday morning, we gathered our things and went out on the street, hailed a taxi and went to Yokohama to board our ship.

We had to wait our turn to check in.  Somebody was extremely happy to be boarding the ship



Some of the luggage waiting to be transported to the ship.


Although we boarded the ship, the Celebrity Millennium, on Sunday, we did not leave on the cruise until Monday afternoon.

We took a day tour, offered by the ship, to Kamakura.

First we visited the Kotokuin Temple to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura, 36 feet tall.


The Great Buddha is made of bronze. It is the second largest bronze buddha statue in Japan.

The statue was cast in 1252 and was originally located inside a large temple. The temple was destroyed by a tsunami in1495.  Since then the Buddha has been out in the open.

Buddha one and Buddha two.


Next we went to see the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

Below is one of several gates to the Shrine.


Inside the grounds, was this structure.  It is a place to wash your hands and face before entering the Shrine.



Here is Chuck doing his duty.


Below is a wires with O-mikuji tied on them. O-mikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at most Japanese Shrines. People pay a small amount of money, select a strip of paper from a box which has their fortune written on it. They can then tie the fortune to a tree or, as in this case, a wire to ensure the fortune has a greater effect.

Stairs way leading to the Shrine.


Matt paying respect inside the Shrine.


On our way back to the ship, we passed a China town.  Wow! I had never thought that there might be a China town in Japan.  This China town in located in Yokohama and is the largest one in Japan.


We boarded the ship and awaited our departure.

As the ship sailed away from the port, there were several people waving us off.


I think this is a tug boat.


We had a room located at the back of the ship.  I was standing, looking out the back of the ship, when I realized within a few moments that I was feeling dizzy.
It was the first time ever I have felt seasick.


It seemed to be better when I went inside our cabin.  I did not know that this was only the beginning.  More about that later.

Love,
Nancy

2 comments:

  1. A great adventure. Hope you got over the mal de mer...

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    Replies
    1. Peter, I am still having episodes of dizziness even though my feet are planted on solid ground. I will get into the details in my future posts. I hope to get control of this as we have a cruise planned in September. Thanks for your concern.

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