Pearls On Wheels

Here he is  the centre of my universe Ops manager Driver Our world has Begun to glisten With early morning Gentle drizzle Not so many  Photos along the road But plenty of coffee stops Warm welcome at Kyoto Brighton hotel Birthday to celebrate Visual delights and organoleptic Morsels for our palates Well done, Dick! Tour of Kyoto Shrines galore Imperial palace beckons With a tranquil garden scene Reiwa the theme. Beautiful harmony  Exploring on foot Sets up a thirst  For tea and  A bowl of ramen The centre of my universe. The Toyama Glass Art Museum - a visual treat from the back of the motorbike . Road signs with pictures. Sometimes the umbrellas were turquoise blue. That didn’t mean that the sky was blue . Gateways to shrines are dotted along the way. Dinner was a delight. Several courses, visual treats and delicious morsels. From the bus window this morning . Mosses and stone. Public art in the  underground shopping mall at Kyoto Rail Station. Prada, Gucci and other designer stores.

We are on our way south To be in Sakaiminato By Friday To catch the ferry to take us To Vladivostok On Saturday From Aomori to Niigata We ride through lush forest  And farmland My driver does his homework. The GPS loses  Some arguments  We meet some Americans in our hotel On a swine study tour Some road scenes The virtues of road houses And pleasures of toll roads follow. In Aomori Port. Everyday starts with a good healthy breakfast.  Vegetables, miso, salads, fish, eggs, seafood, seaweed, pickles. Technicoloured  Rice planter on the move to another paddy field. Toll roads include a mix of road types. Motorways, dual carriageway, country roads.  Our route is a mix of toll roads and these other roads. We are happy to pay tolls - it is a cost of the privilege of travel on roads that are well maintained with tunnels galore and bridges and cantilevered roads on the coast.  In the morning there were several toll booths - where we tossed ¥210, ¥370 into the autotoll coin slot and one where

Highlights of motorcycling Hokkaido - The North Island of Japan Excellent roads, traffic flows smoothly everywhere Country roads, toll roads ( Tolls ¥10,520 for the week) Tunnels galore, traffic lights, too. Flag men, waving their flags Gas stations where service comes with a bow. Road houses just when we are getting thirsty. Agriculture, dairying in the north Barn raised cows  and beef cattle Vegetable crops and rice being shown in finely tilled fields Hakkaido beef - regional wagyu  We had Soya regional beef flamed with Cognac With asparagus, potato and mushroom Breakfasts are a feast for the eyes A wide selection of small portions Lots of vegetables,  miso, seaweed Mountains, forests, rivers Ocean beaches, fishing ports The northernmost point of Japan We arrive at the correct ferry terminal in Hakodate Just in time to board and To write my first blog post whilst sitting on the floor...    Bears, foxes, deer signs along the roads. We didn’t see any live ones. Roads are excellent, roa

Rest day, a misnomer Exploring requires effort Well rewarded effort today in Sapporo The fish market visit has been celebrated On our Facebook page But I can’t resist, those crabs are huge. ‘Boys be ambitious’  Words of i nspiration to his agriculture students  from William S Clark  Who spent a year in Sapporo in 1876. Bedding plants Arranged like geometric Mondrian paintings In the city green spaces Lovely food with special touches A cinnamon stick with the coffee And a bento box to end a lovely day in Sapporo. It feels like I am opening a special gift. This is just the beginning of Dick’s meal. He loves sahimi and is a happy man. Rice with shrimps to conclude Dick’s meal. We are blessed