As we approached the wharf in Aomori, a group of teenagers greeted us with songs and dances. We’ve had send away performances but this was a first for me. They were so excited to see us come in.

Amori is a small city of about 250,000 that is nestled in a small bay. There wasn’t much activity in the early morning so we just hung out onboard for a few hours. Because I could, I took a mid-morning nap only to open my eyes at the sound of a vacuum on our balcony. They are insistent about cleaning!

We wandered downtown for an hour or so just taking in the sights. After checking out a few stores, it was time for lunch. I wanted something small and out of the way. The ramen place I found online was truly the most popular because it had a line outside. So we punted and found something that looked like a restaurant. It was! They had wonderful soba noodle dishes. Soba noodles are a type of Japanese noodle primarily made from buckwheat flour, offering a robust, nutty flavor and a chewy, elastic texture. I had a “curry” dish which was just noodles in a flavorful broth. Mae had tempura chicken with the same noodles.

Then we went on a quest for Mae. Yep! Fabric. We found a small shop that was just loaded with the Japanese cotton she had been seeking. It’ll be interesting to see what she makes.

One of the nicest things about these smaller format ships is how they can squeeze into small ports. Today was no exception. There was no shuttle to town because we were parked at the base of main street. You’ll see one shot taken as we walked back and another from our suite in the stern.

Tonight, Mae and I are having dinner with the Captain and a few other guests to celebrate the trip. I’ll try to post photos tomorrow if we have bandwidth.