Oct. 3, 2018 Hakodate, Japan Day 18

Pronounciation is Hack o da tee. Glad to find that out after calling it Hack o Date all along.
After breakfast i made my way down to the Stardust theatre to listen for my excursion to be called. There were 5 or 6 buses waiting for the passengers to go on the Panoramic tour.

We left from the port at about 9:30a.m. and drove through the city of Hakodate on the wrong side of the road. Or was the driver on the wrong side of the bus.....I dunno what was going but i had a nice side view. Eventually we started up Hakodate Mountain on tight switch back roads and almost collided with a car coming down on the wrong side. The car driver blasted his horn but he was the one in the wrong lane. Anyhow, it was very steep and close to the edge of the road at times as we made our way up. At the top was a gondola thing for an extra charge but our tour wouldn’t be there long enough to take it. So i took pics of the gorgeous scenery then wandered into the souvenir shop but didn’t see anything i wanted to buy until just as i was leaving the sign for ice cream caught my eye so i bought one hoping to use up all my Japanese coins. Would you believe i was 10 cents short so had to break a bill and now i’ve got even more Japanese change but i did get to enjoy a rather smallish but rich swirl ice cream cone. Reading this now at home I realize that I was ripped off by that taxi driver in Sapporo who drove me just a few blocks and charged me close to about $7. Cnd.

We left there and went to a spot and parked and everyone had to follow the guide. With at least 40 people on a bus it’s a given that not all are going to hear what we are supposed to look at and sometimes miss looking or hearing whatever. In any case i missed a few bits of info like why it was so important to the guide to make sure that we all took a pic of a black roof. You couldn’t see the building, it was on a steep hill with trees hiding the sides and i don’t think i got a pic but also didn’t know why i should have. It was an interesting little uphill/downhill walk but i think too strenuous for most of us old cruisers.
I am typing now on the ship laying on the bed with my feet up because they’re burning and so is my back, knees and well, all the rest of me too. And i was tired and actually fell asleep again for a couple hours. This is soooo not me. But maybe i'm a new me now.

I got up and went to the buffet and had a nice chat with Juan from Porto Rico. I then limped slowly down to mid aft for visual trivia. It was a bust as it was identifying flags of the world and i got just ONE correct.....Canada......lol!
I hobbled back to the cabin and laid down for a second and when i woke up another couple hours had passed.
The local high school students were scheduled to come and send us off tonight with a performance of a festival dance called “the Ika (squid) Odori” but this was cancelled for some unknown reason. Too bad for us as we could have watched from our balcony.

I think the ship is preparing for departure right now as i feel a little movement going on. I told the room steward i was in for the night so he just dropped off fresh towels and now i’m starting to revive a bit. Maybe a good time to hit the buffet once again and then return for more rest. The Australian Bee Gees will be the stage show again and while i did enjoy their last performance i’ll bypass this one as it’s just way too far to walk. But wait.....the casino will open 20 - 30 mins after we sail and maybe i’d pay it a little visit while i’m in the neighbourhood anyway. As well the Majority Rules game show will be in Spinnakers so there’s plenty to do while down that end of the ship.

Well, I know I had pics of Hakodate; beautiful scenery from the top of a mountain but they seem to have gone astray or been deleted somehow. My pictures are in an absolute shambles but if they turn up i'll post them.