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Kevin and Joannie on tour
The inn we were staying at was on the outskirts of town, so we drove in to Takayama, parked by the station and ate breakfast in a cafe serving "Morning set" which are usually at reasonable rates. Kevin and had different breakfasts but both seemed to come with ice cream. Kevin was surprised when it turned out this was potato salad.
Takayama is a small city but has lots of heritage. We crossed the river and came across the market where vegetables, pickles and Hida Beef skewers are sold. There are lots of lots of temples and shrines here and Kevin and I spent six hours looking at them on the "walking route". We also so many beautiful Japanese gardens. Look at the photos!
The main shrine is the Sakurayama Hachiman-gu, which protects the city. Nearby is a museum which displays some of the elaborate floats that go out on to the streets for a festival on 9-10th October, which we knew about but had scheduling problems. (Something to do with a Grand Prix)
We didn't take pictures of most of the sites as there were so many. In one temple,we came across a particularly gruesome mural that was Hieronimus Bosch-like in depicting develis torturing humans.There were some beautiful example of bonsai treesand there were shrine to some unusual gods. At one, if you left a worn out pen, you were meant to get improved handwriting. At another, if you threw paper from food you had eaten at a picture of a big-nosed red goblin, and it stuck, then you would receive good health.
Despite being infamous for its tourists - and rightly so - in general we were away from the crowds and spent most of the hot day with the sites to ourselves.
However suddenly we turned a corner into Sanmachi and we coudn't move. There were lots of folk crowded in to the old narrow streets, lined with souvenir shops and kiosks selling local snacks.
As there was not anywhere to eat near our inn, we stayed in town and had an early dinner in a kind of French-Italian crossover restaurant. There they prided themselves on their pumpkin pudding, which we also tried. It was a bit like pumpkin cheesecake.
Back at the inn, a coach load had turned up and there was much gaiety in the main banqueting room. Again we managed to negotiate a private bath but this evening it was too hot. Kevin got in and came out lobster coloured. Joan stuck in her toe and promptly chickened out.
Back in our room, we could hear Karaoke downstairs and were dreading a long night of dodgy crooning. However, like magic, it promptly stopped at 9 o'clock, and everyone seemed to troop off to bed.
Takayama is a small city but has lots of heritage. We crossed the river and came across the market where vegetables, pickles and Hida Beef skewers are sold. There are lots of lots of temples and shrines here and Kevin and I spent six hours looking at them on the "walking route". We also so many beautiful Japanese gardens. Look at the photos!
The main shrine is the Sakurayama Hachiman-gu, which protects the city. Nearby is a museum which displays some of the elaborate floats that go out on to the streets for a festival on 9-10th October, which we knew about but had scheduling problems. (Something to do with a Grand Prix)
We didn't take pictures of most of the sites as there were so many. In one temple,we came across a particularly gruesome mural that was Hieronimus Bosch-like in depicting develis torturing humans.There were some beautiful example of bonsai treesand there were shrine to some unusual gods. At one, if you left a worn out pen, you were meant to get improved handwriting. At another, if you threw paper from food you had eaten at a picture of a big-nosed red goblin, and it stuck, then you would receive good health.
Despite being infamous for its tourists - and rightly so - in general we were away from the crowds and spent most of the hot day with the sites to ourselves.
However suddenly we turned a corner into Sanmachi and we coudn't move. There were lots of folk crowded in to the old narrow streets, lined with souvenir shops and kiosks selling local snacks.
As there was not anywhere to eat near our inn, we stayed in town and had an early dinner in a kind of French-Italian crossover restaurant. There they prided themselves on their pumpkin pudding, which we also tried. It was a bit like pumpkin cheesecake.
Back at the inn, a coach load had turned up and there was much gaiety in the main banqueting room. Again we managed to negotiate a private bath but this evening it was too hot. Kevin got in and came out lobster coloured. Joan stuck in her toe and promptly chickened out.
Back in our room, we could hear Karaoke downstairs and were dreading a long night of dodgy crooning. However, like magic, it promptly stopped at 9 o'clock, and everyone seemed to troop off to bed.
- comments
leonard dixon Nice garden