While yesterday’s visit to Shimizu was just an ordinary Japanese town, today’s visit to Kobe was an everyday normal Japanese city. There weren’t a lot of tourist attraction vying for our time. Instead, we just enjoyed being in the city. We arrived at the Port of Kobe around 8:30 a.m. We had a local fireboat spraying water in various patterns as our only welcome to the city. When we disembarked the ship around 10:00, we jumped on the local “Portliner” above ground train, which took us right into Kobe’s center at Sannomiya Station.
Just outside of the station, we picked up the city’s Loop Bus. A Loop Bus can be found in most Japanese cities, and is designed for tourists to get around to all the important sights of the city, including stops at the prominent train stations. However, the commentary on the bus is entirely in Japanese, so I’m assuming the routes are primarily for those visiting Kobe from other places in Japan more so than those of us from an entirely different country. However, the Loop Bus did its job in providing us with the necessary transportation for the day. It was a 60-minute route that looped around the city. We rode the entire circuit once all the way around, looking and deciding at which stops we wanted to get off and spend a little time. This was a good plan as we found out quickly that a seat on this bus was not easy to come by. The way things worked was when you first boarded the bus, you stood packed in the aisle with all the other tourists. Then, at one of the upcoming stops, some of those seated would get off and you could take their seat, while those just getting on would have to stand in the aisle for a couple more stops before they were able to sit. Needless to say, the buses were quite crowded.
So, once we were seated, we held onto our seats for the rest of the loop. There were three main stops that we decided on: the “Shinkansen” station, City Hall, and the Motomachi shopping street. Near the Shinkansen (Japan’s bullet trains that travel at speeds in excess of 150 mph) station, there was a cable car ropeway that took you up the mountain. You see, Kobe is a long, narrow, port city. In most places the city isn’t more than 2 miles wide. The two miles from the ocean shore are quite flat, but then the land steeply grows into a mountainside. This cable car took us up the side of the mountain for a beautiful bird’s eye view of the port city below including our ship docked in the harbor. It was an excellent choice for an activity. After that, we hopped back on the Loop Bus and took it to City Hall. There we walked around and went up to the 24th floor for another view of the city. We then hopped back on the Loop Bus and took it to the shopping district. There, we did just that, shopped a bit, then walked back to the Portliner station, and took the train back to ship just in time for dinner as we were sailing away from our last stop in Japan.
The fireboat spray show as a welcome to the port of Kobe
Notice the mountain rising up behind the city
Docking at the Port of Kobe
In Japanese cities, one must think vertical.
I you only look at shops on the street level, you'll miss the majority of the city.
The building on the right has a different restraunt on every floor, with McDonalds at street level.
The view of Kobe from the top of the cable car run
My parents in the cable car on the way up the mountian
A gas station in downtown Kobe
Notice there are no gas pumps...well, there are, but their attached to the ceiling.
This was a full service gas station, where you drive into the space painted on the ground. The attendent pulls the pump handle down from above, and the price of your gas in displayed on the wall (behind the camera).
Yes, that Wasabi flavored ice cream on the left available at this Baskin Robin's. I can't even imagine.
People exiting the "portliner" above ground train. Notice how those lined up in an orderly fashion waiting to get on the train. Also, check out the backpack the boy has...all the Japanese school children have them.
No comments:
Post a Comment