Around the World in 128 Days - Kobe Day 2

 

Travel Day 60 - March 3, 2024 - 5,749 Steps

The day was sun and cold. There was ice on the decks of the ship this morning as the thermometer recorded 31 outside.

Everywhere in Kobe buildings seem to be going up.

Our day's excursion had two stops, the first being a Sake Museum.

Where it was reproduction or original, huge beams were incorporated into the museum.

Where sake starts. With rice.

There are many kinds of rice,  just as there are many kinds of sake crafted by a master brewer.

Linda found the rice straw boots especially interesting.

Water and rice begin their transformation.

Each tool and receptacle serves a specific function.

Some containers are bigger than others.

Beautiful young model posing in front of the above container to show how large it was.

After the rice has been washed and properly steamed it must be cooled. The pot master makes sure the lines in the spread rice are in perfect harmony to ensure all the rice cools at the same rate and to the same extent.

Seed mash being prepared to ensure the perfect ratio of water and rice.

Wooden casks of sake.

After being barreled in the Yoshino Cedar casks, the casks are wrapped with the brand printed on woven straw mats that are tied on.

Sampling, only one had any flavor at all.

Sake drinking can be very ritualistic.

Sake cups.

Ritual and art combined.

Many. many different variations of sake.

The that had taste when we sampled the sake.

I gues Linda was in another women's restroom.

The bus was well marked, we were group 14 and here we needed to be back on the bus at 10:30.

The drive had this plant next to his seat.

Mount Rokko, the highest point above Kobe and Osaka is a major tourist attraction and second and final stop on our excursion.

In line to get on the gondola.

Well, they call it a gondola but it was an inclined railway.

No getting lost returning to the ship in the Port Terminal Building what with all the signs.

Fireboat salute on arrival and a band sendoff when we left. Other than it was bitingly cold the entire time we were there it wasn't a bad place to visit.

It was like the container cranes were also saluting us as we left Kobe.