Nikko

I discovered this morning that I am not as clever as I thought - funny how I keep discovering that. When I went to look for our reserve tickets from Ueno to Utsonomiya, they were nowhere to be found. I realised that I had torn off one more page than I should have when getting tickets yesterday. Not a big deal, after breakfast we went to the JR ticket office in Nippori station and got them, but a good reminder to check things well in advance. We spent rather too long at Ueno station and seriously underestimated the time needed to get from the local JR station down to the Shinkansen platforms. A bot of a dash and we got jumped onto the train with only seconds to spare. Luckily it turned out to be our train as we didn't have time to check. 

It is a lovely train ride up to Nikko, with splendid mountains getting ever closer, as the train glides through rice fields and woods. And JR Nikko station is a splendid destination. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright according to my guide book, it has a fine symmetrical old world charm. There was yet another group of Japanese seniors out sketching and painting the building. This seems to be a popular senior's pastime in Japan.

After dropping off our bags we headed off up to explore the Nikko Sannai area, stopping for a delicious lunch of 'omurice with white sauce'  - sort of like an omelette over a mound of rice with a tasty sauce and some green vegetables - in a nice little bar along the way.

We visited the Toshogu shrine, which has marvellous carved and painted figures. Our favourite was the elephants on one of the sacred store houses before the main shrine. It is said that the artist had not actually seen an elephant, but that did not prevent him from doing an absolutely brilliant job.

There was at least one cultural event happening or about to happen at the Shrine. The place was packed with school children, workmen erecting stands, people with dogs, elaborate bonsai plants, and numbers of Japanese tour groups. The shrine itself is at the top of a fair old climb, and then there are some 206 steep stone steps up to Ieyasu's tomb, which Anne, not being overly fond of stairs, had specifically indicated we should skip. But by some appalling mismanagement  and poor navigation on my part, we found ourselves on those very stairs. What else to do but push on to the top?

All in all, we were glad to escape the Toshogu shrine without collapsing or being trampled by a group of energetic school children. We headed on over to the Rinnoji temple nearby, which is less celebrated and much more peaceful. But also with lots of stairs. It was definitely time to call it a day, and by good fortune a bus appeared, which dropped us back at Nikko Station close to our hotel.

Feeling a bit weary we dined at a restaurant in the hotel named, somewhat ambitiously, 'The Terrace'. As the venue is a room totally enclosed within the hotel, totally lacking any sight of the outside world, and equally devoid of ambience, the name is a bit of a stretch, but the service was nice, the food good, so we were pleased with our choice. After dinner we went for a stroll up to the convenience store up the hill. We felt cold for he first time since we arrived in Japan. On the way back, there was what looked like a ballet class on in the upstairs room of the JR Station building, a lovely sight through the brightly lit windows, and a nice end to the day.

Nippori

A good night's sleep in the luxury of an actual bed. The joy of being able to stretch and lie flat! We thought we'd give the restaurant downstairs a try for breakfast, which proved to be a little more challenging than we anticipated. The staff asked if we were staying in the hotel. As hotel guests we were entitled to a special offer, saving about 100 yen each, but we had to pay upstairs in the hotel and bring the coupons back. Which was a bit hard to communicate without a shared language. (we will make sure to always bring our phone along when we go out - Google translate is a wonderful thing for resolving issues like this one). But Anne figured out what they were telling us, and got the coupons, we got a lovely breakfast, saved 200yen, and everyone was happy in the end.

We walked over to Ueno park via the Yanaka cemetery, visiting the Tennoji temple, which was extraordinarily peaceful and beautiful in the autumn morning sunlight. We were the only people there.  After absorbing some of the place's magic stillness, we headed back on our way.

The roadway through the cemetery has little houses and shops, and is a major pedestrian and cyclist thoroughfare. All manner of people ride bikes here - and so far not a single person in Lycra. I particularly like the two child bikes. They have a bike seat for junior in the front between the handlebars, and a seat behind for big brother or sister. Many have electric assist, and you see dainty Japanese mums with two children on board sailing along in a stately fashion.

As we entered Ueno park there was a group of about 20 seniors out sitting on stools, all earnestly drawing one of the fine 19th century buildings that have survived in this area.  At the other end of the age spectrum, the fine weather had brought out groups from local kindergartens, and there were lots of tiny little kids out enjoying the sun.

After a couple of happy hours exploring some of the shrines and temples in he park, we headed onto Ueno station. We visited the JR ticket office there, armed with a printout from Hyperdia of all our planned train trips for the next 20 days that require reservations. The young lady who served us was super fast, super careful, and totally patient.  To celebrate getting our reservations, we had lunch in a nice japanese restaurant. Luckily the menus mostly have pretty clear photos, so pointing and saying "two of this please" in Japanese seems to work ok. Gets more complicated if we want different things - we are still working on that. After lunch we visited the National Museum of Western Art. A number of its galleries were closed for some reason, which was probably no bad thing as we were beginning to flag a little. Well worth a visit though.

We caught the train back and had afternoon tea watching the people streaming home or heading into Nippori station. Then a nap, and some dinner in a nearby restaurant, then another walk through Yanaka shopping district. Very different vibe a few hours later than yesterday. Much quieter, and the cats are less standoffish as their audience has moved on.

This fellow was almost friendly and accepted a pat when the door was opened.

Tomorrow bright and early we are off to Nikko. It is higher there so it should be cooler.

Monday 12 October. Travel to Tokyo

 Monday 12 October ... to Nippori Tokyo

A midnight flight and an uncomfortable night had us touching down at Narita at 7.50 am Japan time. After collecting bags clearing immigration and customs, walking the kilometre from terminal 3 to 2, getting money from an ATM, trading in our JR pass vouchers for the real thing and getting tickets for the NEX - the JR express train that connects to Tokyo - we were sitting on the train watching some rural Japan whiz by under an hour later. After a line change and a bit of jet lag induced blundering around we got to Nippori by 10.30. The Japanese systems are impressively efficient.

We spent a bit of time at the station trying to get our phones to show us where the hotel was. Luckily Anne looked up and there was a huge sign for the hotel directly opposite. A lovely Autumn day here, with lots of people enjoying the sun. Last time I was here was in the middle od a blizzard. Lovely to see it green and bright with colour. We had lunch then caught up on some sleep. The room though was incredibly hot and turning on the aircon made no difference. We raised this with the nice lady at reception. With the aid of Google translate she told us that the aircon is not turned on at this time of year so open the window, which we have done, and it is much cooler but noisier.
After a hot afternoon nap we headed off to explore some of Nippori. We wandered down the Nishiguchi shopping street to the North west of the station. A very nice, relaxed vibe, with lots of families out enjoying the early evening. The street is celebrated for its cats, and there are both lots of representations of cats, shops selling cat kitsch, and even a few actual cats, who were like celebrities. Each cat had its own gaggle of people with cameras, paparazzi, which the cats seemed to accept as their due. Lots of clothes shops as Nippori is a fabric district, and Anne had a great time in the little stalls.

We had dinner in a restaurant on the second floor of an anonymous looking building near the station. It was sort of western Italian Japanese fusion food, and despite its out of the way location it was packed and jumping. We got a table, selected what we wanted then waited, smiling hopefully at the young waiting staff bustling by, but to no avail. Was it us? Had we committed some awful unknown cultural faux pas and were doomed to be ignored? At last the nice older Japanese couple at an adjacent table pointed out a green button located in a green plastic holder on the table. One press and a waiter appeared as if by magic to take our order. A great system and easy when you know how. Dinner was delicious and cheap too by Melbourne standards. 

So tired but happy we are looking forward to a good night's sleep in a real bed.

Paris

Left Santiago this morning, glad to be starting the homeward trek. All went without a hitch till the train from Cdg stopped at Gard du Nord, and all passengers were left to fend for themselves. Looked like something had gone seriously wrong with the Paris train system, as there were people everywhere. A nice man emptying the rubbish bins sent me in the right direction and a packed train eventually appeared, which i managed to squeeze onto, which took me one stop in the right direction before we had to get off. Found another nice man, a cleaner, who led me through a maze of platforms and pointed me to my third train which, despite skipping a station without any announcement i was aware of, brought me to the station I wanted. Took nearly three hours to get from CDG to here, which wasn't quite what I had in mind for the relaxing stopover.
Paris is quite confronting after a month or so of mostly rural spain . It is incredibly expensive - i spent as much on dinner tonight as i have on 5 dinners in Spain. It was a nice dinner, but not 5 times as nice. There seem to be lots of desperate looking homeless people, all the more distressing because of the contrast with the elegant, well heeled crowds of people who seem to effortlessly ignore them. All in all a bit noisy and busy for me at the moment. I wont be sorry to get On the plane tomorrow.

Santiago de Compostella -last day

Another glorious blue sky sunny day. I don't understand how it all stays so lush and green, but it does.

I managed to wind up a long way from the museum i was looking for, but it was lucky as I met a fellow pilgrim I knew from Ponferrada walking from the bus stop, after walking to Finisterre. It was nice to be able to use my knowledge of the city to guide them first to the Cathedral, then to an albergue. We arranged to catch up for dinner, then I found the museum, actually very close to the albergue I had just led the pilgrim to.

The museo of perigrinations' collection has an interesting display relating to the genealogy of St James, the whole strange story of St Anne and the holy kindred. St Anne, according to the story, had three husbands, gave birth to three daughters, one by each husband, each daughter being called, confusingly I would have thought, Mary. She is in effect grandmother to about 7 thirteenths of the early church.
Puzzling over this, I branched out on a new lunch spot, very nice indeed, back to the pension for a siesta, then back to town to explore the Museum of Terra Santa and its strangely eclectic collection of objects relating to Jerusalem, including a large scale model of the church of the holy sepulchre, a copy of the shroud of Turin, stone age flints and stone tools, world war 1british army helmets and many pots. I must confess I struggled a bit with that museum but i am sure it means well.
My last dinner was a bit strange, as the place we chose had a limited offering before 8, so we dined on pulpo and potatoes and smoked salmon and cheese and bread and chicharrones, a sort of pork dish. With apple tart and spanish cheese cake to finish. It was actually a very nice last meal in spain, and the young woman serving was really hospitable and friendly. So, tomorrow, the journey home begins.

Santiago de Compostella - gardens day

The map that the tourist office hands out has a suggested walk which more or less circumnavigates the city and takes in both most of the parks and gardens, and a fair few of the buildings of historic significance, los Edificios Historicos.
First off though I spent an hour just sitting in the Praza do Obradoiro watching the pilgroms come in, and acting as impromptu welcome committe and photographer for a few who had arrived by themselves.
The walk itself took about 4 mostly pleasant hours with stops for coffee aand tarta santiago, and lunch, along the way. Santiago is a university town, a fair proportion of the student population seemed to be out in the parks sunning themselves. It really is a beautiful city. The end point of the walk is Colexiata de Santa Maria do Sar, a 12th century church that has the most massive buttresses relative to the size of the church that I've seen, though when you see the angle of lean on the side walls I guess I can understand why. Unfortunately it was shut.

You would not know Spain was a country in the midst of an economic crisis looking at Santiago. The people all seem prosperous, the civic infrastructure is great and well maintained. It is about the same population as geelong, but feels cleaner, cooler, and richer.  As a liveable place, it would have to score way higher.

Anyway, last day tomorrow ....

Santiago de Compostella Rest Day

Today I didn't do much. A load of washing to the pilgrim centre - with luck they might let me on the plane now - caught up for a coffee and goodbye with a friend from the very first day,  collected my backpack bag, a nap, a coffee, a glass of wine in the sun in the Praza da Quintana Ventos, delicious dinner with three respectable courses, wine and coffee for 12 euros with another walker from the Meseta days - I have established favoured customer status at the restaurant where I eat on the basis that I've brought in a fair bit of trade for them- then a lovely stroll through the twilight back to my pension. Not too bad really. I wonder if I have lost the skills to do things like cook, wash dishes, shop, or house work. All this sitting around being taken care of is dangerously easy.