Kanazawa, Japan - Part Two

 

While missing Tokyo was a disappointment for both us, our substitution stop in Kanazawa was very rewarding. We didn’t expect such a great day, particularly in a city with only about a half-million folks.

I must first commend Holland America for arranging this last-minute stop. There are dozens of elements too address with each stop we make – every aspect was well-coordinated & organized, to include city dignitaries shore-side to greet the ship. Even more impressive, this was early on a Sunday morning.

 Our sail-in was masked with a light drizzle & fog. We docked on schedule at 8am and by 8:30, we were off the ship and taking one of the first shuttles to city-center where the train station is located. The train station wasn’t simply a transportation hub; it was a magnificent structure of beauty & creative architecture. The primarily level featured multiple cafes & retail shops, while the lower level accommodated active train travel. Adjacent to the station was a seven-story, high-end shopping mall. We briefly explored the train station, then began walking deeper into the city with maps in hand prepared by & given to us by Holland America.

During a pre-arrival lecture, we learned that Kanazawa was one of the few major Japanese cities to be spared fire-bombing during World War II. As a result, Kanazawa's considerable architectural heritage has been preserved. We also learned that Kenrokuen Garden was by far the most famous part of Kanazawa, so that’s where we were heading. The ship was offering a bus & guided tour, but wanted $209 each. No sale for us. We’ve learned over the years (& the hard way) that as long as it’s a fairly small, safe city, you have a decent map, & don’t have physical or mobility limitations, going out on your own enables you to see & do much more PLUS save money. Despite the rain produced by the typhoon on the opposite coast, we walked roughly 3 miles to the first of several gardens. I will share with you now, we found this to be the cleanest city we’ve ever visited. Our first Japanese port (Kushiro) was clean as well, but quite old. Up until now, New Zealand took top honors in our book, but Japan is slowly winning us over. Kanazawa is impeccably clean, and for those of you who know me well, I’m extremely ‘picky’ & meticulous. I didn’t see one scrap of discarded paper or garbage anywhere, and after a while, I actually started looking because I couldn’t believe it. Amazing!

If you glanced through the photos posted yesterday, the gardens were extraordinary. We also visited the Kanazawa castlevand again, the surrounding area filled with a variety of trees, ponds, waterfalls and flowers stretching over 25 acres. The original castle was largely destroyed by fire in 1888 but part of it has been partially restored. There are currently plans to re-create much of the original castle grounds, including some surrounding areas.

Kanazawa also boasts numerous Edo period (1603–1867) former geisha houses in the Higashi Geisha District, across the Asano river (with its old stone bridge) out from central Kanazawa. Nearby is the Yougetsu Minshuku which sits at one end…they say it’s of one of the most photographed streets in Japan. This area retains, almost completely, the look and feel of pre-modern Japan, its two-story wooden façades plain and austere. Again, check the photos posted yesterday.

Before we left the garden area of the city, we found a small bench nestled beneath a tree. I needed a short rest as we’d been walking several hours – my back was killing me. A female gardener walked by with her wheelbarrow & tools. We exchanged ‘bows’ and she continued her walk. A short time later she returned, but this time had an umbrella in-hand. Apparently, she didn’t see that both of us already had umbrellas (they were folded) because she extended both arms in offering Cheryl the one she was carrying. It was awkward trying to communicate with her. When we realized she was trying to give us her umbrella, we displayed our own and she immediately smiled & laughed. She started repeating the word “from”, “from”, “from” …Cheryl responded “Arizona” and she said, “Grand Canyon”, “Grand Canyon”. I motioned for her to stand next to Cheryl and took their photo. What a sweet, very kind gesture to offer her umbrella to complete strangers, and on top of that, foreigners! Incredible!!

Shortly thereafter, we started our long walk to the train station to catch the shuttle back to the ship. In route, we stopped at the local fish market. This was, by far, the cleanest, most sanitary fish market we’d ever visited, and also the most diverse. There were critters on display (for sale) I’d never seen before – some very ugly & disgusting, but the place was crowded with customers and since it was lunch hour, many folks were buying & eating on the spot. To local folks, I’m sure it was just as routine for them as it is customary for us to buy hot dogs back home, but I’ll stick with hot dogs, thank you. Amazing experience. I’m not at all being critical – it’s all about the environment & diet with which we all become accustomed to. I will tell you this…I’ve yet to see an overweight citizen here in Japan! They also live longer than westerners!

We were back to the ship by 2:45 and starving. This was my first real break from my diet, and you guessed it – cheeseburger & fries!! Tasted so good! We were going to take a short walk up the road to a Dollar Store, or what in Japan is known as “100 Yen”, but the rain was coming down sideways. We elected to stay on the ship. As we sailed away from Kanazawa at 5pm, the Captain advised us he was again altering our course to avoid some of the outer-perimeter winds of the typhoon but that it would still be pretty rough the next 24 hours. As I write this blog 16 hours later, we’ve had a strong tailwind with the seas running 8-12 feet, but it’s not been bad at all. In fact, the Bering Sea was more challenging last week. As you would expect with a tropical storm, it’s been very cloudy with intermittent periods of heavy rain, but all is well. 

Seems odd to be watching Sunday NFL football ‘live’ on Monday morning! At 7am, we watched as the Arizona Cardinals imploded and lost to Denver. Right now, we’re watching the Royals & Angels. Pretty good reception.

UPDATE: It’s now 3am on Tuesday morning. The storm cleared and the sun finally appeared around Noon yesterday – calmer seas have been us ever since as well. We attended lectures yesterday on our upcoming ports in Korea – several busy days ahead of us. Last evening we had a 5pm meeting with the shore excursions office staff to prepare us for our overnight trip to the Great Wall & Beijing. Very much looking forward to that experience next week – a couple bucket-list stops!

We dock in Fukuoka, Japan at 8am this morning. No formal tour planned here. The city is said to be quite a bit larger than Kanazawa, but we have a good map and a general idea of what we want to see. Actually, I have a good navigator with me in Cheryl. Several passengers got lost in Kanazawa and ended up taking taxis back to either the train station or the ship. We were a little disoriented ourselves, but Cheryl’s always able to get us back to where we need to be, and did so once again. I remember the day we went to Disneyland in Hong Kong a couple years ago – Cheryl negotiated the subway system for us, which required changing trains 3 different times to get there, plus, during morning and afternoon rush. We made it both ways without a hitch. If not for Cheryl, I’d still be wandering around in underground Hong Kong!         

Here are some additional pictures from our day...