Day 13 At Sea

Finally! Finally we had a beautiful day at sea that was sunny and warm. It was just perfect! As you can see, there are more people on the ship than just me. They started coming out of the woodwork as the temperatures climbed. The is also a photo of my friends Peter and Brigitta & I waving hello to our friend Dianne from last year who had to stay home to take care of some important issues. We hope she is doing well. We are sailing along the coast of Japan sailing in a south westerly direction, occasionally seeing islands off the coast. Tomorrow we will arrive early in the morning at the port city of Kobe Japan. Last year I went to Kyoto (which is fantastic) when we arrived at Kobe. This year we will be here overnight and on day one (Friday) I will visit Nara & the Horyuji Temple and on Saturday I will go to Osaka. Here is the description of tomorrow’s tour: Nara & the Horyuji Temple
The world's largest statue of Buddha is the first of many interesting sights that await you in the city of Nara--a center of arts, literature and religion. Nara is home to a number of very impressive buildings and landmarks, as you will discover on today's motor coach tour. The Todaiji (Great Buddha) is cast in
bronze and set in an enormous wooden building. See this star attraction for yourself, then continue to the Kasuga Shrine before stopping for lunch at a local restaurant. Again boarding the coach, you'll continue to the Horyuji temple, the oldest temple in Japan, which contains some of the nation's rarest treasures. Additionally, it is reputed to be among the oldest wooden buildings in the world. Its inside walls are covered in clay images which depict the life of Buddha.