Kanazawa - June 16-18

This time the train ride was on the odd looking Thunderbird train, but just as efficient and on time. This ride was along a large lake and then the coast, so lovely and scenic much of the way. We stayed at the UAN hotel in Kanazawa, a somewhat austere hotel that was convenient for restaurants and places to visit.

We had a great local guide in Kanazawa named Ai, who had the distinction of being over a foot shorter than Mike and I, but did not let it bother her a bit! Ai showed us the amazing Kanazawa Castle, which has been reconstructed since being destroyed by fire in the 1800s, the adjacent Kenrokuen Gardens, the Geisha Districts and the Omicho Fish Market.

For some reason after the tour and before dinner, Mike and I decided to find a dive bar for a beer before dinner. The next three photos show where we ended up. We had fun even if we did not really fit in.

Then for dinner we decided to try an Izakaya about a mile's walk from the hotel, named Itaru Honten. What a great place! Loud, steamy, always full and the kitchen/bar area was run by a very tough looking guy who Mike and I were convinced was Yakuza. He barked orders in Japanese all evening and never looked at us. Then when we got up to leave, he called out in perfect english to ask if we liked the food!

Kanazawa was one of our favorite stops!

Kyoto - June 14-16

We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto. The Shinkansens are aging at this point, but they are still a marvel of technology, efficiency, comfort and timeliness. I love to travel by train and so far my favorites are the Shinkansen in Japan and the TGV in France.

In Kyoto, we stayed at the Saka Hotel, which is a quiet traditional Japanese hotel which served the most delicious and exquisite Japanese breakfasts, complete with a key to which dishes are which. They also encouraged their guests to wear their yakata to dinner, which we also did on the second night!

Our guide for our full day exploration of Kyoto was Hector, who is Peruvian and has lived in Japan for 20 years. He told us it took him 10 years to become fluent in the language. Hector was a brilliant guide for us as he knows the culture as both an outsider and an insider. The sights we visited included Kinkaku-Ji, the famed Golden Pavilion, Ryoan-ji Temple, and Nijo Castle.

You may notice from the photos that we were particularly taken with the food at the Saka Hotel!

Tokyo - June 12-14

We flew ANA from Seattle to Tokyo Haneda and can highly recommend that airline. Service was wonderful and everything ran to schedule. In Tokyo we took a transfer to our hotel in Roppongi. The hotel was fine, but we were less than impressed by Roppongi. While it bustled and was safe enough to explore in the evening, it was hard to find Japanese restaurants at street level - most restaurants were several floors up which makes it hard to window shop for where to eat. We ended up eating Chinese food the first night and of all place we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe the second night. Ouch! We did much better through the rest of the trip.

For our whole day in Tokyo on June 13, our guide was Yumiko and she did a great job showing us around her city through a mix of subway rides and a lot of walking. We took in the Sensoji Temple, Namakise area, Meiji Jingu Shrine and (our favorite) the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. For a late lunch, Yumiko took us to a great sushi bar with a pub-like atmosphere and we ate and drank very well.