This post is coming to you on a delayed basis, as the ryokan at which we are staying Saturday and Sunday nights has no internet. A particularly disappointing fact for Andrea, who was hoping to watch the Yankees-Red Sox games on her MLB TV subscription.
Saturday morning we left Kanazawa for our next stop, the Kasentei Yuraku ryokan at Tamatsukiri Onsen (onsen is Japanese for hot springs). It started off a gorgeous fall day, and I got out for a run around the grounds of Kanazawa Castle and the Kenrokuen Gardens. These areas of Kanazawa are really nice, with museums and other public buildings (I assume they were public – signs were only in Japanese) that were authentic and stately. My run ended (as it often does when I travel) at the local Starbucks, which was a block from where we were staying. My tall Pike Roast was ¥340 – about $4 at current exchange rates, compared to $1.60 in the US. The interesting thing to me is that a tall latte was only ¥380, compare to maybe $2.90 back home. Not sure I get the pricing model, but the coffee was good.
Our train left Kanazawa about 10 o’clock and it was a pretty long journey to our destination. We changed trains in Kyoto and took the Nozomi (even faster version of the Shinkansen) to Okayama. We then got on a limited express train to Tamatsukiri Onsen. Some of the natural scenery (mountains, lakes, rivers) was gorgeous, but let me get this out right up front – the developed part of Japan is really pretty ugly. It’s sort of a contradiction. So much of Japanese culture is so incredibly beautiful in design and color – the pottery, the silk, the crafts, flower arranging, the food, etc. And everything is so clean – you could literally eat off the floor of a train. But you ride by these cities and towns and at least I am struck by how ugly and rundown they are. There are either new, characterless apartments and other buildings or old rundown, beaten up buildings. There are power lines everywhere and houses nestled right next to factories and parking lots.
It is amazing to travel here with Andrea. She breaks out into Japanese and people almost gasp at how good she is. As for me, I’m sort of playing Dustin Hoffman to her Tom Cruise (think Rainman), although I don’t rock back and forth and I try to limit my ritualistic behaviors. Andrea chats up the cab drivers, the tourist bureau personnel, the hotel staff, etc. It is interesting in our ryokans that the staff speaks to us in Japanese and they are careful to make eye contact with both of us equally, even though I must have a blank stare because I haven’t a clue about what they are saying!
We arrived at our destination and it is the dinkiest train station we have seen in Japan. And, to boot, we had to carry our luggage up and down the stairs to get from the platform. The ADA hasn't made its way to the island of Honshu!
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