After our sojourn in the Onsen and another beautifully presented sushi/sashimi dinner at Orizura, where we were virtually the only people there, we find the town practically deserted after the big Japanese holiday.
We wake to 24 sun and a few clouds today and enjoy wandering around Kinosaki but are unsuccessful finding anywhere open for breakfast! We settle for street food of buns filled with crab or beef (very tasty) and yogurt, fruit and coffee from the local 7-11 style store. I buy food for the train trip which is going to take us all day to get back to Tokyo. But first we visit one of the hot pools and are bowed out of the hotel, first by the men who later disappear to their chores, and later the ladies. All very formal and caring. We ask for a cab for the 5 minute ride (cobbled streets, heavy suitcases, not an option to walk...) and find the hotel has paid for it for us!
The local train takes an hour to the nearest small terminus Fukuyama?, then 1.5 hours in a speedy, flashy looking bull-nosed train to Kyoto, a quick change to the 2.5 hour Tokyo train. then the local JR train from busy Tokyo station in the rush hour!!! back to Shinjuku. We shlep our heavy bags through all these stations and are glad it's a wee downhill walk back to our hotel. Even though we miss the right exit from the largest train station in Japan.
We arrive back at Hotel Sunroute at 6pm to be told our bags are already in our room and we have an upgraded room ($300 extra for 4 nights) where we an at least lay our two suitcases on the floor to pack.
We cross the rail track over the bridge to the big Takashima department store and pick an Italian restaurant with good pizza, sort of caesar salad and great gyoza dumplings, which we are getting addicted to. Its windier now but weather is supposed to stay warm for our trip north to Nikko so we pack an overnight bag, Ted his backpack, with very little for the 2 day jaunt.
We wake to 24 sun and a few clouds today and enjoy wandering around Kinosaki but are unsuccessful finding anywhere open for breakfast! We settle for street food of buns filled with crab or beef (very tasty) and yogurt, fruit and coffee from the local 7-11 style store. I buy food for the train trip which is going to take us all day to get back to Tokyo. But first we visit one of the hot pools and are bowed out of the hotel, first by the men who later disappear to their chores, and later the ladies. All very formal and caring. We ask for a cab for the 5 minute ride (cobbled streets, heavy suitcases, not an option to walk...) and find the hotel has paid for it for us!
The local train takes an hour to the nearest small terminus Fukuyama?, then 1.5 hours in a speedy, flashy looking bull-nosed train to Kyoto, a quick change to the 2.5 hour Tokyo train. then the local JR train from busy Tokyo station in the rush hour!!! back to Shinjuku. We shlep our heavy bags through all these stations and are glad it's a wee downhill walk back to our hotel. Even though we miss the right exit from the largest train station in Japan.
We arrive back at Hotel Sunroute at 6pm to be told our bags are already in our room and we have an upgraded room ($300 extra for 4 nights) where we an at least lay our two suitcases on the floor to pack.
We cross the rail track over the bridge to the big Takashima department store and pick an Italian restaurant with good pizza, sort of caesar salad and great gyoza dumplings, which we are getting addicted to. Its windier now but weather is supposed to stay warm for our trip north to Nikko so we pack an overnight bag, Ted his backpack, with very little for the 2 day jaunt.
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