[Japan Travel]: Kanazawa Day 2 + Toyama
Hello! 
It's time for another travel entry.
We're soon finished, but two highlights will still come! (*__*)b Not today, though.
I can't believe that in a little bit more than 4 weeks I'm already travelling again (spring vacation
) - need to start planning NOW!!! (o_o')
.....
Kanazawa - Day 2 + Toyama (January 5th 2011):
I got up very early and went to the Nagamachi area which is famous for old samurai houses. I was so early that everything was still closed and so I just wandered around a bit.
In front of a small hospital.
It was raining again, btw.
Finally the first of the houses opened (the Buke Yashiki-ato Nomura-ke House).
Entrance fee is 500yen. It's said to have one of the most beautiful house gardens!!
The garden was quite nice indeed, but to be honest, I expected more!
Inside the house.
Old house shrine.
And I'm out again. Not sure if it was worth the 500yen. The floor in the house was extremely cold and you always have to take your shoes off. They didn't offer slippers. I think my feet were frozen afterwards! XD
As the rest of the houses were still closed I decided to walk over to the Omi-cho market (quite a LOT of walking that day!) - took me about 20-40 minutes (can't remember exactly)...
Random photo on my way ^-^;
Another random shot as I really liked that small building. So cute!
The whole area was actually quite nice. Good thing I decided not to follow the main road! ^-^;
On my way to my next destination I passed by Oyama Shrine again. This time no rain and less people. I think this time you can see the colorful stained glass better?! :D
And finally I arrived at the Omi-cho market. Compared to the tiny markets in Takayama that were rather disappointing, this one was HUGE and exciting!! ^-^ Recommended!!~
As it was still early in the morning it seems that the market just started!
Warning: raw fish and seafood ahead (partly still alive!!)
Ewwwwww!!
Should I mention that they were still moving? ... talking about fresh and all XD
Expensive!! (O___O'')
That's more my price category XD
Some of them were ah ... uh .. foaming?! (x__X)
I left the market again and passed by a Mr. Donuts! ^-^ They just had a Rilakkuma campaign at that time with cute bear-shaped "donuts" (I bought some in Matsumoto, so you'll see a photo in a future entry! ^^)
On my way back to the station and my hotel I passed by the Higashi Betsuin Temple! Quite nice!!
And that's the "Nishi" counterpart, but not as interesting! :)
Then I took some random shots on my way back to my hotel.
A church! It was next to the hospital I mentioned earlier, because now I was back in the Nagamachi district!
Kanazawa Station! It is really interesting - especially for architecture fans! ^-^
And then I was already in the train on my way to Toyama City in Toyama Prefecture and funny enough that I had to pass "Fukuoka" to get there and I'm not talking about THAT "Fukuoka"!! XD That would be strange ;P
I personally didn't like Kanazawa THAT much - maybe because of the bad weather, I don't know, but it really has something for everybody: a castle, gardens, a ninja temple , samurai houses, geisha district, temple/shrine areas and it's also a modern city with many good shopping options, some Starbucks cafés etc. ^-^
I think it was during that train ride that I met a REALLY weird guy. I guess he was a jr. high school student. He was sitting in some distance from me, kissing and licking his cellphone and also behaving strange in many other ways.
When we were almost there, he started staring at me. I felt REALLY uncomfortable (it was different from the usual "Ah! Foreigner!!!"-stares I get). And what made things worse he got off the same station as me.
For some time I turned over to make sure he was not following me! I hate creepy stalkers!! ;o;
Already in Toyama. As expected it was dark, cloudy and rainy *sigh*
On my way to the castle.
Almost there. I noticed that there were a lot of different stone statues everyhwere.
It seems you can walk along the river and find those statues like EVERYWHERE!!! Sounded awesome, but a) I didn't have enough time and b) it was raining x___X ....
But it looks like it would have been quite a nice walk!!
Rain - my persistent companion!
Getting closer!
The castle is in walking distance from the station, so no problem at all :)
There's also a museum next to the castle, but as I didn't have time I ignored it.
In front of the castle.
The people in the castle were really nice. I got a discount and they also explained to me how to use a pamphlet I got that would also give me discounts in other facilities.
There's a special bus that connects some sightseeing spots (mainly museums) and you can use it for free for each stamp you get at a sightseeing location. ^-^
Looks quite nice in srping, huh?! ^-^
The view from up there wasn't that nice, though.
I left the castle again and while waiting for the bus, went around it to take some more photos ^-^
I somehow like this photo. You can't really see the bad weather here ^-^;
My bus finally came and I arrived at another sightseeing spot - not really famous, but something I wanted to see!
Next to the Toyama Folk Village (which has many different small museums) you can find "Gohyaku-rakan", a hill with 500 small stone statues!! The statues represent disciples of Buddha!
*lol*
Unfortunately the weather was really bad at that point and I couldn't get my camera out because it got wet immediatley which is why I only have very few photos of it! :/
Have you every walked on wet autumn leaves? Yuck!! (x__X) The floor was really muddy and it was hard to walk on it.
It was an awesome atmosphere, though!! I was the only one there, surrounded by 500 stone statues and with a (not so) great view over Toyama city!!
I told you that the weather was horrible!! x__X
From behind. The statues are watching over the city.
Really old stone statues and lanterns! Some of them were already falling apart!
Quite a modern tram!
Gerneally I was surprised that I liked Toyama much more than I expected. It has many modern and INTERESTING buildings!! For fans of architecture definitely a MUST!!
It was slowly getting dark and I passed by the river with the statues again as I wanted to shoot a few night shots of the castle (which I couldn't in the end!)
Pavement close to the castle.
They also have those city bikes. Unfortunately I have no clue how exactly it works. Maybe you pay money and then you can just use them or ... no idea! Anybody knows?
A picture of the castle on an underground way wall.
In front of Toyama Station. I've only always seen monkey and frogs so far. I wonder why they use only those animals?!
I still had time until I had to leave for Nagano and so I ate in a restaurant in Toyama Station.
Super yummie!!! :3333
Sitting in the waiting room of Toyama Station, waiting for my train to Nagano Station.
The train to Nagano was almost completely empty which surprised me because I thought it's quite a popular city and it was also high season (winter vacation), so for a short while I thought I might have taken the wrong train XD
Still no idea why it was so empty XD
Camera(s) used:
Pentax K-x and Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
Coming up next: My highlight #1 - the snow monkeys of Jigokudani!!!!!!
Stay tuned!
It's time for another travel entry.
We're soon finished, but two highlights will still come! (*__*)b Not today, though.
I can't believe that in a little bit more than 4 weeks I'm already travelling again (spring vacation
) - need to start planning NOW!!! (o_o')
.....
Kanazawa - Day 2 + Toyama (January 5th 2011):
I got up very early and went to the Nagamachi area which is famous for old samurai houses. I was so early that everything was still closed and so I just wandered around a bit.
In front of a small hospital.
It was raining again, btw.
Finally the first of the houses opened (the Buke Yashiki-ato Nomura-ke House).
Entrance fee is 500yen. It's said to have one of the most beautiful house gardens!!
The garden was quite nice indeed, but to be honest, I expected more!
Inside the house.
Old house shrine.
And I'm out again. Not sure if it was worth the 500yen. The floor in the house was extremely cold and you always have to take your shoes off. They didn't offer slippers. I think my feet were frozen afterwards! XD
As the rest of the houses were still closed I decided to walk over to the Omi-cho market (quite a LOT of walking that day!) - took me about 20-40 minutes (can't remember exactly)...
Random photo on my way ^-^;
Another random shot as I really liked that small building. So cute!
The whole area was actually quite nice. Good thing I decided not to follow the main road! ^-^;
On my way to my next destination I passed by Oyama Shrine again. This time no rain and less people. I think this time you can see the colorful stained glass better?! :D
And finally I arrived at the Omi-cho market. Compared to the tiny markets in Takayama that were rather disappointing, this one was HUGE and exciting!! ^-^ Recommended!!~
As it was still early in the morning it seems that the market just started!
Warning: raw fish and seafood ahead (partly still alive!!)
Ewwwwww!!
Should I mention that they were still moving? ... talking about fresh and all XD
Expensive!! (O___O'')
That's more my price category XD
Some of them were ah ... uh .. foaming?! (x__X)
I left the market again and passed by a Mr. Donuts! ^-^ They just had a Rilakkuma campaign at that time with cute bear-shaped "donuts" (I bought some in Matsumoto, so you'll see a photo in a future entry! ^^)
On my way back to the station and my hotel I passed by the Higashi Betsuin Temple! Quite nice!!
And that's the "Nishi" counterpart, but not as interesting! :)
Then I took some random shots on my way back to my hotel.
A church! It was next to the hospital I mentioned earlier, because now I was back in the Nagamachi district!
Kanazawa Station! It is really interesting - especially for architecture fans! ^-^
And then I was already in the train on my way to Toyama City in Toyama Prefecture and funny enough that I had to pass "Fukuoka" to get there and I'm not talking about THAT "Fukuoka"!! XD That would be strange ;P
I personally didn't like Kanazawa THAT much - maybe because of the bad weather, I don't know, but it really has something for everybody: a castle, gardens, a ninja temple , samurai houses, geisha district, temple/shrine areas and it's also a modern city with many good shopping options, some Starbucks cafés etc. ^-^
I think it was during that train ride that I met a REALLY weird guy. I guess he was a jr. high school student. He was sitting in some distance from me, kissing and licking his cellphone and also behaving strange in many other ways.
When we were almost there, he started staring at me. I felt REALLY uncomfortable (it was different from the usual "Ah! Foreigner!!!"-stares I get). And what made things worse he got off the same station as me.
For some time I turned over to make sure he was not following me! I hate creepy stalkers!! ;o;
Already in Toyama. As expected it was dark, cloudy and rainy *sigh*
On my way to the castle.
Almost there. I noticed that there were a lot of different stone statues everyhwere.
It seems you can walk along the river and find those statues like EVERYWHERE!!! Sounded awesome, but a) I didn't have enough time and b) it was raining x___X ....
But it looks like it would have been quite a nice walk!!
Rain - my persistent companion!
Getting closer!
The castle is in walking distance from the station, so no problem at all :)
There's also a museum next to the castle, but as I didn't have time I ignored it.
In front of the castle.
The people in the castle were really nice. I got a discount and they also explained to me how to use a pamphlet I got that would also give me discounts in other facilities.
There's a special bus that connects some sightseeing spots (mainly museums) and you can use it for free for each stamp you get at a sightseeing location. ^-^
Looks quite nice in srping, huh?! ^-^
The view from up there wasn't that nice, though.
I left the castle again and while waiting for the bus, went around it to take some more photos ^-^
I somehow like this photo. You can't really see the bad weather here ^-^;
My bus finally came and I arrived at another sightseeing spot - not really famous, but something I wanted to see!
Next to the Toyama Folk Village (which has many different small museums) you can find "Gohyaku-rakan", a hill with 500 small stone statues!! The statues represent disciples of Buddha!
*lol*
Unfortunately the weather was really bad at that point and I couldn't get my camera out because it got wet immediatley which is why I only have very few photos of it! :/
Have you every walked on wet autumn leaves? Yuck!! (x__X) The floor was really muddy and it was hard to walk on it.
It was an awesome atmosphere, though!! I was the only one there, surrounded by 500 stone statues and with a (not so) great view over Toyama city!!
I told you that the weather was horrible!! x__X
From behind. The statues are watching over the city.
Really old stone statues and lanterns! Some of them were already falling apart!
Quite a modern tram!
Gerneally I was surprised that I liked Toyama much more than I expected. It has many modern and INTERESTING buildings!! For fans of architecture definitely a MUST!!
It was slowly getting dark and I passed by the river with the statues again as I wanted to shoot a few night shots of the castle (which I couldn't in the end!)
Pavement close to the castle.
They also have those city bikes. Unfortunately I have no clue how exactly it works. Maybe you pay money and then you can just use them or ... no idea! Anybody knows?
A picture of the castle on an underground way wall.
In front of Toyama Station. I've only always seen monkey and frogs so far. I wonder why they use only those animals?!
I still had time until I had to leave for Nagano and so I ate in a restaurant in Toyama Station.
Super yummie!!! :3333
Sitting in the waiting room of Toyama Station, waiting for my train to Nagano Station.
The train to Nagano was almost completely empty which surprised me because I thought it's quite a popular city and it was also high season (winter vacation), so for a short while I thought I might have taken the wrong train XD
Still no idea why it was so empty XD
Camera(s) used:
Pentax K-x and Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5
Coming up next: My highlight #1 - the snow monkeys of Jigokudani!!!!!!
Stay tuned!