The borrowed camera is working just fine and I will buy Gerta a bottle of wine for her generosity in allowing me to use it.

Our first stop in Japan was Kagoshima the Southern gateway to Japan. As I walked into the Lido for breakfast everyone pointed to a nearby island and the volcano was erupting. After breakfast I had a tour which first took us to the gardens of the Chiran Samurai Houses. This island was home to the samurai including the last samurai. The houses were built behind walls that were to slow down enemies trying to kill them. Also none of the roads were straight so the Samurai could not be easily seen.

On the way to Chiran we kept seeing these bushes which looked like they had white flowers as we were zipping along. When someone asked the guide the name of this plant she laughed and said they were not flowers but white bags over the Loquat fruit. This keeps the skin very smooth the way the Japanese like them so with this labor intensive work, they are very expensive. The bus driver stopped so we could actually see that they were not flowers.

We then went to the Iso-teien Garden which was laid out to have the volcano as a backdrop. This garden is incredible and the most beautiful Japanese garden I have seen. I have so many photos and it was hard to choose a couple for you to see.

Lunch was very interesting and was served in the typical Japanese style and we even cooked our main tidbit on little pots on our table. I enjoyed this meal which included a few pieces of sashimi with Wasabi and soy sauce. I did use chopsticks again and I am getting quite proficient.

That evening I was invited to have pre dinner cocktails in Joan’s cabin and Maurice and Joe had arranged for us to have dinner at the Canaletto Restaurant. We had a great time. The sea became a little angry so dancing was not an option and I just went to bed to rock and roll there for the whole night. It is still rocking and rolling as I am typing this post the next morning.