The storms did a job on us, but the sleeping sure was great – Dramamined up as I was!  We start our morning with the gym – still holding on – and then the Coffee Chat with Sunny, the illusionist.  He’s adorable – and speaks only passable English. The Tai Chi lady has to translate for him. And all along we thought his silent schtick was just an act – but it isn’t – it is a language thing.  Great Coffee Chat.

Then Ian subs in a presentation and we head to lunch and watch as the clouds begin to lift, leaving fabulous views of the snow covered mountains in the distance.  The seas have thankfully calmed as we sail into Otaru, arriving a little after 1pm.

We’re off and out right away, figuring we’ll make the most of our overnight by visiting the botanical gardens today (in hopes of spotting cherry blossoms) and then do a full day in Sapporo tomorrow without the stress of rushing everything.  The overnight here gives us the opportunity to catch an early train without any pressure.  So off we go, up the mountain, past a resident’s tulips and cherry blossoms on the hill, to the memorial stone at the turn to the gardens. All so very familiar! 

The trees are indeed in bloom although some are almost done by now – but it is still a beautiful sight and the views are just wonderful up here with the snowcapped mountains across the bay. 

We have fun retracing our steps from the last time we were here – the long walk down into the park, the lovely little pond and stone garden, the manicured trees and beautiful white magnolias almost fully bloomed plus more cherry blossoms. 

A lovely little walk and interlude.  Back in town, we hit Daiso for supplies, then wander through town, past the stately former Nippon Yesen Company building and the lovely brass etched panels that show the progression from horse drawn carriage to rail line here in Otari (being the home of the 3^rd railway line ever to be opened in all of Japan).

We don’t have much else to do as we exhausted the sights here in 2024, so we head to the Otaru Beer Brewery and beer garden on the canal – just as we did before.  The weather is a tad different today though, so we definitely sit inside, ordering my “popular with the ladies” cherry beer, Ed’s Dunkel and that fabulous Bread Bridge that is just too yummy to pass up!  The table we have is right next to the beer bottles of old display – which has so many bottles – all made by Otaru Beer – and some of the cutest labels.  How could you not order a puppy beer when it was being made?

Wanderings complete, we head back to the ship for the rest of the evening – doing our norm and then going to the Orange Party in the World Stage – just to watch for a little while.  Oh, the outfits!  We just can not believe that people would pack all that stuff just for one night, but…well….the proof is on the stage or at least in front of it.

And that concludes our evening. Off to bed early for our early morning train ride to Sapporo.