4 June 2017

After spending the night in Kumamoto we boarded the car ferry to Shimabara and then heading over to Nagasaki.

Had a very interesting stop in Shimabara to have a look at the castle.  It was built in 1615 and took around four to seven years to complete.  After 250 years it fell into disrepair and restoration began in the 1960’s.  You can go inside and have a look at the old warrior costumes and weapons through the years.

Shimabara Castle

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Looking at the route above we then drove to Nagasaki via Unzen.  This is where Anthony’s mum used to go for holidays when she was a young girl.  A sentimental journey for Anthony.  Unzen seafront had the feel of a 1930’s resort, so not much had changed since his mother had visited it seemed.

Then finally to our hotel in Nagasaki.

Very quaint hotel within walking distance of many interesting places.  Stayed here for two nights.

I had read about the Dejima Wharf and what a good place it was! So we headed over there for dinner.  Its very picturesque but lacks atmosphere.  Our dinner was a disappointment.  Supposed to be a seafood bbq – but we had to cook it ourselves.  Luckily we found a great little bar upstairs with a live band so had a good song and dance with some locals who were celebrating a birthday.

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5 June 2017

Off to a fairly early start as there was lots to cover today.  First off we had a look at the old colonial settlement within walking distance of our hotel, where Dutch, Portuguese and English houses still stand.

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I was very interested to go and have a look at Glover House.

This was a house built by an English guy who first came to Japan when he was 21 in 1859.  He built the house and gardens in 1861.  We are both really interested in travellers who left their native countries to establish themselves in other countries many years ago.  These people would not have known what to expect only hearing about different places through word of mouth.

Anyway Glover Gardens and house did not disappoint.

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I popped to the ladies and when I came back found Anthony deep in conversation with this lady who was gardening just outside one of the buildings.  She was amazed that Anthony could speak so fluently.  They found out that they were not only the same age but had the same birthdays!  She asked Anthony why he was so old with such young children – so direct .  She was very reluctant to let him go.

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Its interesting to note that Mr Glover still liked to be surrounded by his English furniture.

Onto the next stop – the Foreigners Cemetery – where we spent at least an hour looking at old gravestones.

We spent ages looking for this place going up and down alleyways.

The day was still not done and there was time to visit the Peace Park and A Bomb Museum.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only places to this day that have had atomic weapons used against them.  It was very moving to wander through the museum and find out the history of what actually happened.

Standing in front of the Peace statue built to commemorate the people who died in the disaster.  The face is not Japanese but  the  face of a “Person who goes beyond human races.”

So that concludes Nagasaki – next up Kagoshima.