Random thoughts from the sea
Days 103-110, 2026 Grand World Voyage Friday to Thursday, April 17-23, 2026; Hakodate, Japan, and Seven Days at Sea If you placed a map of Japan over a map of the North American east coast, our six Japanese ports would stretch from Miami to Nova Scotia. Most maps — whether
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Days 96-98, 2026 Grand World Voyage Friday to Sunday, April 10-11, 2026; Nagasaki, Japan, and at Sea. Just steps from the docked Volendam I discovered a world of miniature art that, once again, challenges me to think beyond simply replicating a scene. After all, a photograph will do that. Artist
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Day 31, 2024 Majestic Japan Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024; Nagasaki, Japan Today was the second of our visits to historic atomic bomb sites in Japan. The tour this morning in Nagasaki went to this city’s Atomic Bomb Museum, the nearby hypocenter (ground zero) and Peace Park. In many ways, the
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Day 20, 2024 Majestic Japan Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024; Yokohama, Japan When I sent my cold weather clothes out for cleaning a few days ago, I requested they be returned folded so they could go straight into my suitcase. The Alaska temperatures in the 40s and 50s are a distant
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Day 17, 2024 Majestic Japan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024; Hakodate, Japan When I am painting on site, I can almost fall into a trance, barely aware of what is happening around me. Today, a Japanese man broke through, offering to airdrop to me a photo he just took as I
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Day 16, 2024 Majestic Japan Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024; Kushiro, Japan Perhaps every port can’t delight me. Sadly, Kushiro ended up being one of those ports today. I’ve been here twice before and thoroughly enjoyed exploring it on foot with my friend Joyce. The highlight has been the Washo Market
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Day -1, 2024 Majestic Japan Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024; Gig Harbor, Washington I’m just about as envious as I can be, watching the sunrise from the home of dear friends Jan and Jim in Gig Harbor, just outside Seattle. What a perfect place to live! Jim was instrumental in drawing
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Day 62, 2024 Grand World Voyage Tuesday, March 5, 2024; Fukuoka, Japan Today’s forecast was for rain most of the day. Fukuoka didn’t offer a shuttle bus to the center city. And I am feeling stressed about catching up on blogging and preparing for six days off the ship in
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Day 60, 2024 Grand World Voyage Sunday, March 3, 2024; Kobe, Japan. When you think of Kobe, your thoughts might immediately go to Kobe beef. According to strict rules set by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association, only beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle raised
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Day 56, 2024 Grand World Voyage Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024; Tokyo, Japan What a thrill to see Mount Fuji appear off my balcony in the dawn light, with its snow-covered peak high above the city as we sailed into Tokyo harbor. The third time is the charm for me, as
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