Breakfast was a traditional Japanese one and
like last night, it was all set out on individual trays. The number of dishes
was incredible for the first meal of the day and a lot of the items were not
what I would be considered 'breakfasty'.
There were tomatoes, cucumbers, and
some type of lettuce. There was grilled salmon, macaroni salad, and some
pickled vegetables. We had an egg sunny side up, some bacon and rice. Ever try
to eat an egg with chopsticks? Me neither! I scooped it up with my chopsticks
and put it on my bowl of rice, then I cut it by stabbing it, haha! We also had
miso soup (very salty), tea and orange juice. There was a package of seaweed as
well, which I am bringing home for my friends as it is not my favourite.
We set off on foot towards the morning market.
It is about a 3 or 4 block area of businesses along the riverbank.
Some were just independent kiosks while others are permanent stores, yet they are only
open until noon each day.
There were lots of free samples and the biggest
variety of foods I've ever seen.
Many of the shops also sold interesting
souvenirs and knickknacks. I found a couple of cat fridge magnets. Their tails
stick out so that you can hang something on them. A cute owl toothpick holder
also caught my eye. And I bought a small ugly little red figurine which is
significant to this area. The Japanese are really into their comic characters.
This figurine has pointed arms and legs and a black faceless face. They come in
various colours and bring luck for different activities i.e. school, happiness,
health. People here are quite superstitious.
After we shopped for a while, the owner of our
inn picked us up in his nice van and drove us to the Hida Folk Museum. It is a
lovely area with original wooden homes and buildings from the 1700s.
There is a very picturesque pond in the centre and many of the trees were
showing their fall colour.
I really enjoyed the old architecture. You could go
into many of the buildings but you had to remove your shoes first which is a
pain with running shoes.
The roofs of the buildings were made from very thick
straw. Hida (also known as Takayama) is well known for its wood production.
In
one of the buildings, a young lady was doing the traditional embroidery and I
bought a little change purse she had made.
Our man with the van came to pick us up again
and I went to the train station with our guide to buy a ticket for my ride to
the airport on Wednesday. I didn't realize, (why would I?) that November 23 is
a holiday in Japan, kind of like a Thanksgiving so it will be a very busy
travel day. Reserved seats on the train cost extra but it will be good
insurance.
We walked back to the shopping area and stopped
at a restaurant for lunch. The specialties of this area are noodles and beef so
I ordered a tasty beef noodle soup. I noticed that Susie was eating the noodles
in her soup with chopsticks so I did too but they also provided a spoon for the
broth which was very good.
After lunch we went our separate ways and I
browsed and some of the many, many shops including a bead store! Another one of
my purchases today was a very beautiful wallet as I am in need of one. The
price was quite extravagant and I didn't buy it right away. But after a while I
capitulated and bought a most beautiful dark blue leather wallet with traditional
Japanese designs in the leather. The patterns almost look like Zentangle. I took some time to visit a folk art museum.
The
admission price wasn't cheap and I discovered I was the only one in the museum.
It was nice but not spectacular.
I also made a stop at Jinga, which is a
historical government building. The place was quite huge with many interesting
rooms as well as a rice store house next door.
It gets dark early here, shortly after 4 PM, so
I found a 7-11 and bought some breakfast and lunch for tomorrow as it is not included.
Back at the hotel I used the onsen tub for a while. All the climbing
up and down and the steep stairs we have been using has really taken a toll not
only on my feet, but my knees as well. That is something I am not used to!
Supper was a 15 minute walk from here and the
food was nice. I just had some chicken, rice and vegetables as the prices
of some of the other menu items were quite steep. Some of the young-uns are
going out drinking tonight but there is no way I could handle that.
We need to have our luggage downstairs by 7:20
AM tomorrow morning. Yee-ikes!! I am sharing a room tonight and had to change
rooms in order to make it fair for the three of us women. I hope my roommate
doesn't come in too late!
