Author: admin (Page 16 of 35)

Tokyo Day 3 and Sail Away Friday 5.5.2023

4 May 2023 / admin

Friday is a day of two halves. The morning is our last two visits to Tokyo sites and then we journey on to Yokohama port to board our cruise ship.

As we were shown earlier in the week the Buddhists have temples, the Shinto religion has shrines and our first stop this morning is the Meiji shrine. The shrine, located in Shibuya, honours Emperor Meiji, although his tomb is elsewhere. He was notable for opening Japan to western influences and outside the shrine this is reflected in there not only being, as with most shrines, a range of sake barrels, but also a range of wine barrels with some of the historic wine brands of which the Emperor was an early Japanese consumer. He ruled from 1867 until his death in 1912 and was responsible for the transformation of Japan during that period.

Our next stop takes us back to the warlord era at the Hamarikyu gardens adjacent to Tokyo Bay where the waters are a fresh / sea water mix and replica Japanese tea houses have been constructed. In the 17th century the land was reclaimed from Edo bay and a warlord villa constructed along with gardens. It has been a public space since 1946 and the teahouses have been reinstated in the current century. It is warmer again today and I was extremely pleased to find a water fountain adjacent to the toilets before we depart.

Rejoining coach 1 we are therefore first to reach the Hammerhead pier where the Regent Seven Seas Explorer is berthed. First however is a need for a health declaration, no coughs, no sneezes, no covid. Boxes ticked and we are moved to a seried rank of seats to await being summoned onboard and check in.

Once through check in we head to deck 11 to get a first taste of the dining facilities (not found wanting in the slightest) before descending to our suite with the first bag already delivered awaiting our attention. The other two soon arrive and we slowly unpack and get ourselves organised.

Between the bathroom and bedroom there is a walk in wardrobe and we manage to fill the hanging area with our clothes plus there are enough hooks for our coats! And there is room under the bed for the three now empty suitcases. Beyond the bedroom there is a lounge space and finally a balcony, although weather expectations are such that it may not see much use!

A welcome drink (and canapés) in the observation saloon are consumed as we sail away prior to descending to the main dining room for an excellent meal.

It is noticeable from the guides that we are some of the first travellers seen in Japan since restrictions have been lifted and they are glad to be closer to normal.

Tokyo Day 2 Thursday 4 May 2023

4 May 2023 / admin

This image taken from https://japanthis.com/2013/05/13/nijubashi-tokyos-most-famous-bridge/ without permission

Our trip today seemed more like ordered mayhem than a managed sightseeing trip. Apparently Tokyo loves rules and the application of those rules meant that we could not partake in seeing the bridges above on the edge of the Imperial Palace. The time for arrival at the drop off point in Ginza is strictly regulated and we were nearly 5 minutes late. The initial consequence was therefore insufficient time to walk from coach to the above viewpoint and return on the only stop between the hotel and Ginza.

In Ginza we were taken to the Kabuki-za theatre and shown the basement of market stalls and then taken upstairs to a little garden and a display in remembrance of a famous actor.

We return to the centre of Ginza where the Wako department store is now very obviously the oldest buildings visible in any direction.

In Ginza 6 we find a Starbucks for some coffee and something to eat. The Starbucks seems to be inside a bookshop, yet on careful observation there is another branch of Starbucks within this branch of Starbucks! Very strange. And busy with all seats occupied, we grab two stools at the counter.

Regaining the coaches is similarly time limited but then I must admit to snoozing most of the way back to the hotel. Time to repack our cases as tomorrow we board our cruise ship and sail away.

Before we do our dinner tonight is a Chinese meal, again in our hotel. This is not as good as the meal the previous evening. The cases are outside the room ready for collection. Let us hope for better sleep or at least more of it.

Tokyo Day 1 Wednesday 3 May 2023

3 May 2023 / admin

Waking in the middle of the night notwithstanding, we are woken by the alarm. We hit peak breakfast time which means waiting for the buffet to be replenished! The interruption at 2am was a text message allegedly from a grandson suggesting that I join “Snapchat” – as if it was likely to be of interest or relevant.

A morning coach trip takes us to the Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa and although not early Tokyo seems much quieter than I had expected until reminded that we are in the middle of Golden Week where holidays happen on alternate days and are then bridged with holiday days allowing a week’s break from work.

Needless to say the Temple is very busy and the walk up through the adjacent street is consequently very slow as we are walking against humanity flooding in through the main gate by the nearest station.

It is, our guide assures us, the best time of year to visit Japan. Warm, but not excessively hot, not raining and a pleasant day all round.

Our return from the Temple is an extended tour through some key Central Tokyo districts. First Ryogoku which contains the headquarters of Sumo and a major stadium which hosts week long competitions six times a year. Then onto Akihabara, once the electronics centre but which has moved with the times and is now the manga comics and games centre. We pass Tokyo Central station before heading towards the Imperial Palace, then seeing the Diet (Parliament building) and both the 1962 and 2021 Olympic stadia.

Our guide implies that Ginza has been overtaken by Shibuya as a shopping area and the latter certainly has many designer name shops. It is more famous for the “Scuttle Crossing” and as we approach we are treated to a demonstration as hundreds of pedestrians walk in every direction possible for 50 seconds.

We return to our hotel in Shinjuku not far from the station of the same name. The station is the busiest in the world with an average of 3.5m passengers a day, which implies something like 12 times the annual numbers passing through Waterloo!

Later we partake of a tenpanyaki dinner in the hotel. Excellent dinner even if a little expensive.

Earlier having completed the tour we were tested for covid. Initially advised that results would return in a hour, later revised to four hours but we are both much relieved to collect two negative results. We can board the cruise ship on Friday.

2023 Starts Here

3 May 2023 / admin

Over five years since the last post and a lot has happened – many holidays took place and quite a few did not. Hardly surprising given the intervention of a pandemic and the consequent disruption to holiday plans.

Long ago in 2020 we booked this trip. Initially to commence in April to see the cherry blossom and with a stop in Russia along the way. The trip was redated to May, the Russian stop expunged in the light of the invasion of Ukraine and another day shaved off the schedule to satisfy the timetable of the ship’s later cruises.

As we are sailing from Yokohama we have to first get to Japan. Once at Heathrow it is to JAL for check in! As a traveller in front has a lot of luggage we get redirected to the first class check in, but regrettably not the first class cabin. Security does not take long and we had for the Qantas Lounge. The quality of the snacks is lacking so we decide to visit the Cathay Pacific lounge. Champagne and samosas gets us off to a good start!

90 minutes to kill is enlivened by an advert for a play at the Donmar Warehouse and after a brief discussion we also book Corrigans for dinner. Waiting time at airports is obviously online shopping time. I am relieved when our flight is announced. We board and pull back from the stand on time. It is about 30 minutes before we take off and start heading east. It soon turns dark outside.

We are heading for a variety of ‘stans plus Mongolia whilst the on board system thinks we are going to overfly Russia. Amusingly like a car sat nav it keeps showing an immediate left turn is needed to achieve the desired route whilst like me the pilot is no doubt saying that he knows he is not lost! Once in the air I sequence a number of radio recordings and podcasts.

So having eaten dinner I have just worked out that it is really about 6am, future time. Somehow I think it is time for some sleep.

Not enough hours later I wake, somewhere “near” Ulan Bator according to the maps, but with about four hours flying time still to go. Looking at the map later as we fly over South Korea it is noticeable that there are lots of small turns as we are presumably following a more tightly defined route and not simply taking a route akin to a great circle. Just past Seoul we turn left and then right again.

I stopped the podcasts but on restarting then realise I am half listening half sleeping through the last item I had sequenced and realised that I have missed large chunks of the various podcasts.

About 40 minutes before landing I manage to destroy the calm as I have lost my passport which I thought was in my jacket but it was in the zip pocket on back pack, but not before absolute panic descends as the JAL 777-300 also commences downwards.

Passport found in zip pocket of backpack and calm returns. In less than an hour from touchdown we are waiting departure in our coach. Much of the coach ride is in tunnel as we head from Haneda to Shinjuku Hilton.

Check in, order room service burger and then some sleep.

Tenerife 28.12.22

5 January 2023 / admin

Aloe Vera Farm Tenerife 28-12-22

It is now possible to take a road trip around the entirety of Tenerife – and much of it is motorway apart from the corner between La Carrera and El Molledo which is not far from Los Gigantes – essentially the top North Western corner. Today we are on a grand circular tour to see parts of the island we have not previously visited. We also have some stops along the way commencing with an aloe vera farm as seen above.

Bananas Tenerife 28-12-22

The second stop is a banana farm where we are taken through the essentials of banana production which is an important export for the island. Somehow these bananas tasted better than any previously encountered – possibly because they had completed ripening on the plant rather than being removed and the ripening completed on their way to their destination.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna Tenerife 28-12-22 Copyright J M Whitbread

We move onto San Cristóbal de La Laguna and whilst I am sure I did take some photographs I can no longer find them hence the credit above. The town is the original capital of Tenerife and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is at the eastern end of the island but was supplanted by Santa Cruz as capital as the latter has the harbour and access to the sea.

We do stop for a look at part of the northern coast but the last part of the trip requires an ascent on some roads doing regular changes in direction and then on the way back down by the coast we did this:

Twists and turns Tenerife 28-12-22

Caught through the coach window hence the odd reflections but this was the road heading back down to the coast and Los Gigantes. Probably hairier for the driver than for us.

A pleasant day out and seeing parts of the island not previously visited.

Los Gigantes Tenerife 20.12.22 – 3.1.23

4 January 2023 / admin

Hotel Los Gigantes 22-12-22

Two weeks away covering Christmas and the New Year in the relative warmth of Los Gigantes, Tenerife seemed like a very good idea after having two Christmases at home. We did try to go away at Christmas 2021 – but this impossible when there was a minor resurgence of covid.

Our destination hotel, now known as Tui Blue, was the first development in this part of the island and in the reception there is a huge photo showing the visitors arriving by boat. The hotel opened ln 1963 but has been significantly facelifted in recent years and is presently adult only. So there should be no children, no squealing and no brats running around at meal times – instead it will be very civilised.

Cliffs Los Gigantes 22-12-22

The area around the hotel is not very flat so on the second day I take a short local walking tour with a group of other new arrivals to see the locality. This gives a chance to see the adjacent cliffs and the small harbour. Originally we thought we might eat out but events conspired against us. I do spot a couple of possibilities but we do not get there.

Harbour Los Gigantes 22-12-22

We took one day trip which I will record as a separate post. There are some stories which I shall record.

Event 1:
A typical day is a case study in learning how to do nothing. Many of our holidays down the years have involved being on the move and seeing things so to hardly do anything at all – apart from stretching out in the sun for the morning and then having a sleep in the afternoon seems unusual. The odd thing is that even with the afternoon nap, we still feel pretty tired in the evening and we are not staying up late at all. Quite a bit of reading is achieved plus a lot of listening so the outstanding pile of unread material does decline nicely which is pleasing in itself.

Event 2:
We both suffered bouts of illness. In my case it was a UTI which we felt needed medical intervention. A doctor arrived about 2 hours after we asked reception staff for help. Infection confirmed and prescription written, a quick visit to an adjacent pharmacy so within 3 hours I have taken the first tablet. The local dosage is also higher than the UK and the antibiotics soon knock the infection sideways. This happened on a day when to get a prescription in the Uk might well have needed a visit to a remote out of hours facility.

Event 3:
A decent Christmas lunch but no sign of any Brussels sprouts. The following morning there are green vegetables for breakfast as there are every morning; today there are some exquisite Brussels sprouts. Neither of us wants them for breakfast!

Event 4:
Every evening there was musical entertainment; somehow after a few numbers it seems to become a Motown run down, just like the previous evening. We went along most evenings but mainly for another drink not the music.

Cough medicine 28-11-22

Event 5:
If you get a bad throat then this is the stuff to fix it.

Event 6:
A phone call from the surgery insisting I need blood tests. I point out that I had a complete set of blood tests in September and consequently there should be no need as they tested everything under the sun. They went away but once I was back in the UK they started on again. Once again I pointed at the September results but the idiot could not be bothered to check and eventually ended up by cutting my prescriptions and simply would not listen to my repeated explanations. There are drawbacks to mobile phones and being permanently connected and this was one of them.

Brecon Mountain Railway 13.10.22

15 October 2022 / admin

Pant Loco No 1 13-10-22

This is a very short trip and we head along the M4 to Merthyr Tydfil where Jackie wishes to visit a clothing retailer whom she has been following online to enable her to see the product in person.

Sheep on the line 13-10-22

This enables me to take a trip on the Brecon Mountain Railway which utilises the trackbed of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway which later became part of the Great Western Railway on grouping in 1923. Freight services ended in the early sixties. Tony Hills bought 5 miles of the route and built a narrow gauge railway with the first services running in 1980 from Pant (which is a new station not quite on the site of the original Pant station) as far as Pontsticill. The route was extended in 1995 from the original northern terminus which was adjacent to the dam of the Pontsticill reservoir; after a further extension in 2014 the line is now about 4.25 miles long and provides an attractive run alongside the reservoir with the line terminating at Torpantau. There is a passing loop just before Dolygaer (the station is now closed although it was the terminus at one point). Torpantau is at the summit of the line some 1313 ft above sea level.

Torpantau Loco no 1 13-10-22

The line has been built to 1’ 113/4” gauge – so similar to some other lines in Wales. It is hard to believe that it has been in existence for very nearly 50 years and has seen a variety of locomotives over the years. The workshops have also undertaken work for other lines.

My visit is on a pleasant Autumn day with some wonderful sensorial colours as a backdrop. I have travelled on the line previously with the first trip being before the extensions. The line now appears to be mature and since our visit and the deaths of both Tony Hills and Peter Rampton, the line is now under the same management as the Vale of Rheidol railway which has seen significant investment, as has this line, over the years.

Pant after return 13-10-22

Operationally the train runs non-stop to Torpantau, a steady uphill climb. The BMR station is only a little way short of the former Torpantau station on a new track bed adjacent to the road which has been realigned. A little way on was Torpantau tunnel which was the highest tunnel on the UK network and the line then continued onwards to Talybont-on-Usk. At Torpantau he loco runs round and we return to Pontsticill where we stop and have time to inspect the shed and so on.

Santa Teresa Pant 13-10-22

We then complete the return to Pant which is on the alignment of L&NWR line / connection from Dowlais to Morlais Junction. A decent trip behind no 1 ‘Santa Teresa’ now a 2-6-2 rebuild (in 2019) of Baldwin which saw service at the Santa Teresa sugar mill. It returned to the UK in 1990 and moved to the BMR in 2002 before undergoing a heavy rebuild into the locomotive seen today.

It then seems to take an age to retrace my steps to Merthyr Tydfil just about as the rain is about to fall to collect Jackie. We then return along the M4 as we are spending the night at Lucknam Park to partake of the delights created by Hywel Jones in his restaurant of the same name. He has since upped his Michelin star count to 20 consecutively. We dine well and it is a fabulous place. One day I hope we will be able to revisit.

Lindos 30.9.21

6 October 2021 / admin

Lindos Fortress 30-9-21

One of the main historic sites on Rhodes is Lindos and we took ourselves there on what seemed to be an exceptionally warm day. Lindos was a major trading centre in the 8th Century BC but its influence declined after Rhodes came into existence in the 5th Century BC.

Lindos Harbour 30-9-21

The harbour is not particularly large hence leading to the decline as a trading centre. The acropolis was topped in about 300BC with a temple to Athena, later falling into disuse and then being partially covered by a 14th Century fortress by the Knights of St John.

Temple Athena remains Lindos 30-9-21

For many the way to top is using a donkey – but neither of us feel that being atop a donkey is the safest activity we can undertaken and Jackie elects to stay in the Square whilst I walk to the top. It is busy and there is a queue to enter so it takes a little longer than I had anticipated. I made it!

Athena Temple description 30-9-21

Just to provide the historical background.

Acropolis of Lindos 30-9-21

On our return journey it proved possible to get a different view to grasp the size of the town and the fortress. Whilst the town is busy during the day with visitors like ourselves we were told that it goes very quiet in the evening and becomes a very pleasant place to visit. I do know that it was an exceptionally warm day to walk up (and down again).

Rhodes Town 28.9.21

5 October 2021 / admin

Windmills Rhodes Harbour 28-9-21

Rodos Park is within easy (downhill) walking distance of Rhodes town. I might take a slightly different view of the return journey. Rhodes is situated close to Turkey and has been controlled by many different empires through the ages. Roman obviously, the Byzantine or Eastern Roman empire based on Constantinople, Islamic forces carried off the remains of the Colossus, then the Genoese and in the Crusader period the Knights Hospitallers who are responsible for much of the monuments which we visit today. The scale of the fortifications is enormous.

Fortifications Rhodes 28-9-21

Later the island fell into the Ottoman Empire for around 400 years then the Italians took control in 1912 with an agreement that it would be passed back to Turkey never being completed due to the First World War. German occupation commenced in 1943 after Italy was defeated which ended in 1945 and the island became part of Greece in 1947 with the Italian colonists returning to Italy. A hugely mixed history and the town is relatively flat as we wander around some of the back streets.

Suleymaniye Mosque 28-9-21

We see evidence of the various eras – the Knights Hospitallers for the fortification and the mosque originally built in early 16th Century once the Ottoman Empire had taken control of the island, but I think a large proportion of was reconstructed in 1808 and has been closed since 2014 awaiting further restoration.

Rhodes Town 28-9-21

A side street in Rhodes Town – I was lucky here as usually there were more people around!

Different levels Rhodes Town 28-9-21

What was obvious but which we did not investigate is that there appear to be higher levels with connecting bridges between buildings common around the town.

View opposite coffee break Rhodes 28-9-21

After all that walking we decided a break for coffee and people watching was in order as they wandered along the Street of the Knights (Odos Ippoton). We ended our visit to Rhodes Town with a rapid visit to the iconic Windmills of Mandraki as seen above. They were used to grind grain being offloaded from the ships in the harbour. There were once 12 – 18 mills along the harbour front.

Rhodes 26.09.21 – 3.10.21

4 October 2021 / admin

Rodos Park Pool 27-9-21

This was our first escape from the UK now that International travel is once again permitted as the risks relating to covid have been addressed. We have the pleasure of an EasyJet to Rhodes where we have accommodation and are organised.

Arriving at the airport is instructive. To travel at the moment one needs a passport (obviously), tickets (even more obviously) and then proof of covid vaccinations plus completion of a form for each person notifying the authorities of whereabouts at the destination and all of which has to be completed electronically. Precise requirements depend on the destination.

There is a queue for the check in at the airport and a young lady whom we can see is seeking to check the existence of the relevant documents for each traveller before allowing them to actually drop their baggage. Many of them are seeking to display the information on their phones – and inevitably there is a lot of swiping going on as they seek to find the boarding passes, the vaccination records and the relevant forms. Quite a significant proportion have no idea of the need for the form to be completed for the destination country and are being sent away to complete them online – which is not always the easiest thing to do in the timescale needed.

Needless to say we are prepared – it is all printed out in order and can be easily checked. It is noticeable that the older travellers prefer paper to their phones – and compared with most we progress very quickly and the lady thanks us for being organised. I wonder she maintained her composure given the lack of documents among some of the intending travellers.

Magpies Rodos 27-9-21

With the difficult bit done we are eventually off into the wide blue yonder and our destination was the excellent Rodos Park Suites and the best sight was the sunshine and the pool which greeted us the following morning. Plus some pretty large magpies trying to hide in the trees. The trouble is that they are bit big to actually hide.

A decent hotel and we were able to eat outdoors in the evenings. The team delivered some good meals and we were able to enjoy some very decent local wines which the hotel staff were keen to demonstrate the ability of the local wine makers. Greek wine has come a long way over the years and we had a good week. There will be some individual posts on other aspects of the island.