The 2025 Festival of Speed

 Celebrating the world of Formula 1 facing, the Goodwood FOS was an event to remember, made even better by enjoying a hospitality suite at the event as well as visits to well-known museums, thanks to Steve Austin's Great Vacations.

The world famous Beaulieu museum and grounds boasts an amazing collection. Just to avoid confusion, it should be noted that the Britishers pronounce "beaulieu" thusly: "Be-you-lee". I can hear the French people groaning from here. Anyway, here we go.

The television and movie collection included Mr. Bean's famous yellow mini and the real, no kidding, flying Anglia of Harry Potter fame.

Here's the FOS event centerpiece at Goodwood:

And some of the wide selection of automobiles both on display and under power, "climbing the hill".

The final day included an airshow compliments of the UK military.

We stayed an extra couple of days in Portsmouth at a boutique hotel we'd been to before, called The Ship Leopard - No Children. You gotta love that. Found a local pub, The Ship Anson, well within stumbling distance and offering beer, beef pies, fish and chips, and atmosphere.

The weiner dog contest was, once again, won by Gordon with a final tally of one to nothin'.

Headed For Home

Three more ports in Japan, first, Hitachinaka and its lovely seaside park:

 We got one heck of a sendoff from the local band, and the were really good, too!

Next day, Miyako. We stayed aboard, but once again we were greeted with fun and music.

A clever tour guide taught us to count to 99 in Japanese, using easy-to-remember drawings. Don't have a photo of the drawings, but here we go, using english alphabet:

1 to 10: Itchy, knee, sun, sea, go, rock, nana, hatchi, queue, ju. 

11 on, just add it up! Ju itchy, Ju knee, Ju sun...you get the picture. Twenty, then, is Knee ju (two tens), 21 is Knee ju itchy (two 10's plus 1). Keep going. Thirty is Sun ju...

Hakodate. Off to the morning market. Dinner! Trying to escape!

Cherry blossoms were still in bloom and visible on our way to up Mount Hakodate on the "rope line", cable car to us neophites.

Onward to Muroran, and another rope line, this one passing a live volcano spewing steam.

We also visited the history museum, which was full of real honest to goodness ninja stuff.

It was here, in the parking lot, where after over four months at sea, the one and only wiener dog was spotted and legitimately called. There had been one previous sighting, but the International Wiener Dog Spotting regulations strictly prohibit calling dogs when riding on busses...unless the dog is on the bus.

Happy birthday to Pati!

Seven days at sea to cross to Alaska, with a time change every night. Everyone was tired, especially the crew, who keep odd hours at the best of times. Smooth sailing, however.

We had a great guide in Kodak who was a fisherman for most of his life and now head of the local museum. He explained how the crab is caught and assured us that "Deadliest Catch" was about right, but without all the personal drama.

Some say that this is the oldest bar in Alaska.

Sitka. Eagles and raptors and bears, o my. These are all rescues. The bears were rescued as motherless cubs and the eagles and other birds were injured. The bears stay forever, but the eagles are rehabbed and released. The motto: "The eagle has landed. To get him flying again is our job."

Horrible weather, windy and rainy low tossed and turned us ll night and most of the day.  Miserable until we got into the Inside Passage and some respite, but maybe late to Vancouver. Captain Secret shored nothing further as of 5 pm.

We were late. So, highlights of our last ports Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, and Astoria.

They still throw fish at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The Boeing Factory!

Last stop, Astoria, Oregon. Big thing there is the Astoria Tower. 

So, in the end, 150 days on a cruise ship. Never cooked our own meal, made our own Gibsons, or made our own bed. We lost track of the number of countries visited.

Gordon won the Wiener Dog contest, 1 dog to zero.

 

Finally! Japan!

 Third time's the charm, as they say. After two Japan cruises were canceled by the company during the Covid crap, we finally were on our way to Japan. First, though, a stop at Keelung, Taiwan and a visit to Yeliu Geopark, where nature formed some very interesting shapes at the beach.

Next stop, Ishigaki, Japan, where they have a sense of humor about their resident stingrays.

But wait, no, we're not staying in Japan? Nope. On to Shanghai, China for two nights. A visit to Yu Yuan Garden and the Old Town Quarters on a very busy holiday weekend.

Then it was South Korea. Busan. Another temple and a very lively fish market.

Okay, now really. Japan. Nagasaki. The clock stopped when the bomb hit on August 9, 1945 at just after 11:00 a.m.

They have a mockup of Fat Man, the atomic bomb that hit Nagasaki, cut away to show the guts of the operation.

The Peace Park. Here, there are statues donated from far and wide and dedicated to peace.

Back to the ship and on to Osaka with a visit to the Palace with its iconic tigers.

View from the Umeda Sky Building, 85th floor! 

The elevators, you see, are glass. So are the escalators. Gordon: "How did I let you talk me into this??"

Guess where? Went to the Tokyo Tower and looked up and down.

What a show we saw during dinner!

Finally, from earlier in Shimizu, Mt. Fuji, hiding in the clouds.