22-24 May
Leaving Hiroshima, the Shinkansen Super Express took only three and a half hours to reach Yokohama. Sadly, cloud cover obscured the top of Mount Fuji as we passed it.
We decided to take a taxi from the station to the hotel, which was just as well as the Shinkansen station was nowhere near Yokohama train station where our hotel was nearby. This time the taxi driver had no problems finding our hotel. It was a smart, modern business hotel that had only opened in year 2020, and was unaccustomed to dealing with Western visitors and providing working international internet.
Dinner was in a rather swanky restaurant, Brasserie du Quai. After our Japanese banquet and breakfast in Hiroshima, we opted for something different. French cuisine is considered exotic here, but for us it felt like coming home, especially after two months in Asia. Peter revelled in the assiette du fromage – we have certainly missed cheese. AND we enjoyed a bottle of red wine served at the correct temperature.
Our one full day in Yokohama was accompanied by torrential rain. We were preparing for our voyage on the Queen Elizabeth and getting up to date with our email and blog, which was frustrating with the hotel’s curiously patchy internet service. An additional challenge was making sense of the information on the Cunard web site, which was low on practical information and high on pushing sales of a huge number of shore excursions.
We passed a pleasant day sheltered in enormous shopping malls, connected by mostly covered walkways, near the port. Having read up on the dress code for our forthcoming sea voyage, Lynne determined that both she and Peter could do with some smarter clothes.
We bought a couple of cheap shirts and a pair of slacks for Peter in H&M, on the basis that they could be ditched at any time if they were too heavy or bulky for his rucksack. He drew the line at buying a jacket. Lynne found some rather more glamorous shops, plumping for a blouse in one and a versatile skirt/dress in another.
In searching for toiletries, we also came across a store selling wine and bought a bottle each to take on-board. We revisited the area the following morning when we had worked out what the themes for the gala dinners were going to be, to buy some cheap accessories with the intention of being able to participate in one or two of them.
Between our hotel and the Landmark shopping mall, where we also went for dinner, were two venues for concerts, where youngsters were queueing, trying to keep out of the rain, early and late for shows. We arrived at the Pia Arena just as the hordes left, with their umbrellas. Imperfect timing…. And there they all were, the ‘Buddies’, queuing the following day, for another gig for the same Japanese idol girl group, Sakurazaka46!
Embarkation day was gloriously sunny. We had arranged, with some difficulty, for a taxi to take us to the Yokohama’s Daikoku Pier to join our ship. We sped along the toll road, across an enormous bridge , alongside which the Queen Elizabeth was moored, and down the spaghetti junctions of roads. We were glad our driver knew where he was going and we alighted easily at the terminal.
Check-in was easy and we chose to walk on board carrying our own luggage rather than checking it in. We signed in with our muster station en-route to our cabin. It was 2.30 pm, only forty minutes after picking up our taxi. Phew, safely on-board – this was one transport link that we couldn’t afford to miss!
Access to the internet on board is even more exorbitant than we had anticipated. You have to pay on a per diem basis, even if using the ship’s PCs, (although there is a discounted package for the duration of the voyage, which still works out at $18 per day), so we will be adopting a forced internet-detox voyage, so don’t expect frequent updates to this blog until we’re on dry land!
Our cabin (stateroom, they like to call it) was spacious and luxurious, with our own private balcony. We unpacked our rucksacks for the first time since leaving London – it seems so long ago.
As the sun set over Yokohama, our huge ship set sail. Our excitement was tinged with some uncertainty that we were still under-dressed for the days ahead.
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