Day 3 -- Kobe/Kyoto

Early rise and breakfast then onto a bus. The drive through Kobe was interesting. A large city of 3 million used to be Japan’s busiest port, but now has been surpassed by Nagoya where Toyota’s headquarter is. It is almost connected to Osaka, another big city. Japan is so densely built that it looks like one continuous city, at least this part of Japan. Its new highways have to be elevated roads. The scenic 90 minute ride to Kyoto was not. For a large portion of the drive there were tall metal barriers on both sides of the road obstructing the view. Kyoto is also a large city. It is the most visited city in Japan because of its historical significance and a large number of historical sites that were not destroyed during the war. It was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years. Unfortunately we only had time to visit 3 sites – the Golden Pavilion, which is now a Buddhist temple; the Nijo Castle built in 1603 by the first Tokugawa shogun and one of the largest Shinto shrines, Helan. Upon our return to the ship at 6 pm we had a quick dinner and set out to explore Kobe. We took a monorail from the port to the center of Kobe, and walked around the city center. Kobe is very picturesque, with mountains in the background, interesting architecture with western art nouveau influences, and lots and lots pf shopping! Two things that surprised us about Japan so far --- English is hardly spoken, in fact it is very hard to find people who speak English even in hotels, restaurants and stores; and it is very hard to find places with wifi – restaurants and hotels don’t seem to have wifi access. The city of Kyoto offers free wifi, but in order to access it, you first have to send an email and receive a pass also via email! Ridiculous. We came upon a covered Mall street that went on forever (at least half a mile ) with all kinds of shops, some very upscale.