Saturday 28th March
Kyoto to Kanazawa
I set the alarm for 6:00 am this morning, knowing that missing the train to Kanazawa could be problematic. A swift breakfast followed by some Olympic qualifying luggage packing. I fail to see why dirty clothes should be significantly bulkier that clean ones, but I'm convinced they are. We take the hotel shuttle bus to Kyoto station and relax in the knowledge that we know where are going when we get to the station, in theory, and have plenty of spare time. Part of this is due to the fact that the shuttle bus runs on an hourly schedule; the later bus would have been tight, but the one we caught gives us plenty of slack.
Another visit to Starbucks, where we are slowly learning the ropes, and then onto the platform (unlike Harry Potter, we leave from platform 0. For computer programmers who always like starting from 0, rather than 1, this is very pleasing, although Jo stubbornly refuses to be in the least interested, for reasons I cannot fathom.)
We are on the platform to see the departure before ours arrive and depart. We are in carriage 1 at the front of the train, and therefore the longest walk along the platform. Not significant here in Kyoto, but potentially a disaster in Tsugura where we change to the Shinkansen. The trip today involves a 'Thunderbird' to Tsugura and a Shinkansen from Tsurgura to Kanazawa.
All goes to plan and we successfully make the connection at Tsurgura and are on our way to Kanazawa.
There is, allegedly a shuttle bus from the station to the hotel. We found the 'group bus stop', but there was no sign of any shuttle buses to anywhere, let alone our hotel. Looking at trusty Google Maps it wasn't too far to walk to the hotel. so we did. What I hadn't reckoned on was that fact that I would be dragging a heavy case, wearing a pullover and anorak (no room in the case, what will all the dirty clothes!) on what seemed to warmest day we had encountered so far. The walk took about 20 minutes, but by the time we reached the hotel I was 'not pleasant to know'! The reception staff were very professional though! Our room wasn't ready, but they would look after the luggage (and our pullovers & anoraks) until we could check-in. There was a lounge on the ground floor where one could help oneself to tea and coffee. We had a picnic lunch in the lounge; luckily there was no one else around.
Consecutive hotels have been getting more stylish, and this is about the pinnacle. The room is huge (45 sq.m) and has two double beds and a raised area with a Japanese low level table ready for our own tea-ceremony. Quite an upgrade on the first hotel with the bed pushed up against the wall. I think there is the potential for us to forget to pack something in a room this big.
The hotel, though very stylish and roomy, is located in an odd place, a mixture of business warehouses, workshops and small houses, and oddly, opposite a little cul de sac called 'Ivy Square'! There is one workshop down the road that seems to have a permanent fixture of a chap looking the worse for wear, slumped in a deckchair, who tries to greet us in various languages - I flatter myself that I think I've convinced him we're Spanish! He also seems to have a collection of animals/birds in cages. Strangely though, it feels completely safe!
With some spare time in the afternoon, we headed back to Kanazawa station and decided to branch out from there. It is a Saturday afternoon and it looks like local schools, or similar, are staging short concerts. We pass as a very loud drum group is playing. I recorded a short video before becoming aware that photography was not permitted. Outside the station there is also a large matrix of small fountains that spell out various things; I recognise the time, but don't recognise the Japanese!
We eventually make our way to the Higashi Chaya District, an area of old wooden buildings, the centre of Geisha in Kanazawa. It is thronging with people, mostly Japanese with many women wearing kimonos. Jo is severely tempted to buy a Kimono; I try not to sound disapproving...
Kanazawa is renowned for gold leaf, and one of the local 'delicacies' is ice cream with gold leaf attached. One shop, in particular, seems to be doing a roaring trade. We resisted the temptation (and the queue!)
Back to the hotel... One of the 'rules' or customs of this hotel is that outdoor shoes should be left in the lobby outside the room and we should wear slippers provided in the room. (This was, in theory, also the case in Kyoto.) It is also a custom that rooms are provided with 'day-wear'. These are essentially all enveloping pyjamas. These were also provided in Kyoto. In this hotel, though, they can be worn all over the hotel, together with sandals. We rapidly conclude they didn't normally have to cater for people with feet as big as ours! Guests seemed unbothered wearing the day-wear to breakfast. But the other purpose of the day-wear was to go to and from the public baths on the ground floor; one bath for men and the other for women. The only rule I could make out that bathing was completely naked! We found we didn't really have time for this!
One oddity of the hotel is that it doesn't have a restaurant, so for dinner we asked the hotel for a recommendation; a sushi restaurant sounded reasonably safe and, taking their recommendation we booked (or rather, they booked) a place at Sushi Waka. We arrived to take the last two seats at the bar. A bewildering menu was handed to us and a waitress with a little English came to take our order. We played safe and just pointed to a photo of a plate of sushi. We were then asked if we would like dry or sweet - so, not knowing what was being referred to, we chose sweet. It was sake and quite acceptable, although both of us took it slowly! I think we must have had a selection of about 10 sushi placed on a leaf on a raised part of the bar from which we ate, with more or less success with the chopsticks provided. At some point in this process I notice the woman to my right was using Google Translate and was translating from English to Japanese. I asked if she spoke English and she said she was from New York. (The temptation to suggest she wasn't speaking English flashed through my mind, but I thought better of it!) She was, in fact, having a conversation with a Japanese lady to her right and thanks to Google Translate it seemed they were getting on like a house on fire. The New Yorker was called Jess (or Jessy) and was on holiday and like us had travelled from Kyoto today, but unlike us had missed the connection at Tsugura!
The restaurant was obviously a family affair and as we finished we realised that a small child (aged, perhaps, 2) was sitting behind us in a small combined table/chair entertaining herself. A few cooing noises from Jo had the whole family onside in no time. I may have mentioned oishi for good effect.
A short walk back to the hotel, that despite its location, looked beautiful by night. Jo made herself a cup of coffee, but then had a battle getting all the bits out, she presumed were part of the packet. On reflection the next evening Jo realised she had been fishing out gold leaf!