Day 64 - Kagoshima, Japan 

Saturday, March 15

Kagoshima is on the southern end of Kyushu, one of the four major islands of Japan.   The city is often called the "Naples of the East" because of the location on a bay, it's temperature, and the nearby active volcano, Sakurajima.

We arrived early and by the time I got up a little past 8:30 we were docked.  Immigration officers arrived on board and those who had morning excursions were to be processed starting at 8.  My excursion does not leave until noon so my scheduled time was 9 am.  I walked in, people pointed me in the right direction, one person attached a landing form on the back of the copy of my passport, another person scanned my index fingers, and someone else gave me a landing card.  The whole thing took maybe two minutes.

I then went to the Lido to get some pineapple juice and a muffin.  I sat and read my book for about an hour and then back to my stateroom to get together the things I need for my excursion.

The "Cunard Woodpecker" is busy working on my side of the ship.  What this really is, is a crew member who chips rust off of deck parts and then repaints them.  Two of the ladies at the dinner table named this the Cunard Woodpecker because it sounds like the repetitive tap-tap-tapping of a woodpecker.  I'm glad I will not be spending the day in my stateroom!

I woke up this morning feeling a little congested.  As the day wore on I started feeling worse and worse.  I made it through the tour and sat in the Garden Lounge waiting for sail-away.  lasted through about five minutes of sail-away and then back to my stateroom for a nap.  Slept for two hours than had room service bring some food and Shirley bring me ice and I went to bed at 8:45

To be honest, as I felt worse I tuned out the tour.  Most of my pictures are street scenes.    English words are used frequently and not always the way we would use them.

Smooth sailing until next time!