Trip to Izu - First Day
January 5 and 6 we went on a trip to Izu Penninsula, a vacation spot for people in the Kanto area, famous for its many hot springs, tasty fish(both river and ocean), wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and tangerines (mikan).
We got out of the house around 9:30, picked up grandma and her sister Kiyoko and were on our way. It took around 2 hours to get to our first destination - Atami. We were going to go to Hakone where we could enjoy a lake with a close view of Mt. Fuji, but the mountains were covered with clouds so we decided instead to go with the ocean side. Alex wanted to fish, and my husband had found a place where he could drop his hook - a levee behind which fishing boats were perched - one side being the open ocean where one might be lucky enough to get a bigger fish and one side being a protected area where smaller fish roamed.
Grandma, Aunty and I stayed in the warm car listening to the radio and talking about "the olden days" while the kids fished for around 2 hours. Julian and Audrey, who had a smaller hook, were fishing in the inside while Alex, with his bigger hook, fished on the outer side.
Since we had arrived at the location after 12:00, there weren't many big fish around and Alex didn't have any luck that day. Audrey and Julian though caught 4 or 5 fish in all.
After releasing them - since we couldn't take them with us - we were on our way to the hotel. We are regulars of this hotel, staying at least once a year and sometimes two times - once in the winter and once in the summer. It is a winery/hot spring hotel owned by a karaoke chain owner that also has outdoor sports facilities for sports camps. (Be forewarned - the English on their pamphlet is awful...!)
When we arrived, we set dinner for 6:15 (it was 4:45) and hurried over to the hotsprings to have a bath before. There is an indoor bath, outdoor bath and sauna/cold bath. Audrey and I enjoyed both of the warm baths to our heart's content - this time around I wasn't able to take my time in the sauna although I love that too.
Dinner is all you can eat and all you can drink of their white and red table wine. We could also make our own hotpots at our table out of various soups and ingredients.
Audrey and I always enjoy the dessert, which includes a chocolate fountain.
We all ate way too much so the kids and I had an hour of karaoke before bed.
Unfortunately, my stomach was so full of wine and food and my head was so full of other things that I just could not sleep. I ended up staying awake almost all night. I sure did a lot of thinking!
That was our first day. I'll post on the 6th later!
We got out of the house around 9:30, picked up grandma and her sister Kiyoko and were on our way. It took around 2 hours to get to our first destination - Atami. We were going to go to Hakone where we could enjoy a lake with a close view of Mt. Fuji, but the mountains were covered with clouds so we decided instead to go with the ocean side. Alex wanted to fish, and my husband had found a place where he could drop his hook - a levee behind which fishing boats were perched - one side being the open ocean where one might be lucky enough to get a bigger fish and one side being a protected area where smaller fish roamed.
Grandma, Aunty and I stayed in the warm car listening to the radio and talking about "the olden days" while the kids fished for around 2 hours. Julian and Audrey, who had a smaller hook, were fishing in the inside while Alex, with his bigger hook, fished on the outer side.
Since we had arrived at the location after 12:00, there weren't many big fish around and Alex didn't have any luck that day. Audrey and Julian though caught 4 or 5 fish in all.
After releasing them - since we couldn't take them with us - we were on our way to the hotel. We are regulars of this hotel, staying at least once a year and sometimes two times - once in the winter and once in the summer. It is a winery/hot spring hotel owned by a karaoke chain owner that also has outdoor sports facilities for sports camps. (Be forewarned - the English on their pamphlet is awful...!)
When we arrived, we set dinner for 6:15 (it was 4:45) and hurried over to the hotsprings to have a bath before. There is an indoor bath, outdoor bath and sauna/cold bath. Audrey and I enjoyed both of the warm baths to our heart's content - this time around I wasn't able to take my time in the sauna although I love that too.
Dinner is all you can eat and all you can drink of their white and red table wine. We could also make our own hotpots at our table out of various soups and ingredients.
Audrey and I always enjoy the dessert, which includes a chocolate fountain.
We all ate way too much so the kids and I had an hour of karaoke before bed.
Unfortunately, my stomach was so full of wine and food and my head was so full of other things that I just could not sleep. I ended up staying awake almost all night. I sure did a lot of thinking!
That was our first day. I'll post on the 6th later!