A tour of Kanazawa

Today was another busy day. John, Dave and I took a lovely walk at 6. We explored some of the side streets around the hotel. We had a funny thing happen - we saw an older Japanese couple who looked like they were lost so we stopped and showed them our map and where we were on it. They spent some time pointing to the map and then down the street until I realized that they thought WE were lost and were trying to help us. We ended up smiling and nodding and headed off to finish our walk in the opposite direction of where they were pointing which must have greatly confused them. Breakfast this morning was a buffet. I tried the rice porridge, but found it rather tasteless so decided to sprinkle some sugar on top to make it more palatable. I reached for one of the tubes of what I thought was sugar but nothing came out when I tore off the end and poured. I started laughing when I realized I was trying to pour a toothpick on my cereal! After breakfast, we boarded the bus to take a tour of some of the main attractions of the city. Kanazawa is on the Sea of Japan side of the country, but we haven't yet seen the sea. Apparently, it can get quite cold up in the nearby mountains as the wind comes from the north (Siberia) in the winter. We visited the castle of the Samurai first. This was one of the largest castles in feudal Japan, but most of it was destroyed by fire in the late 1800's. Much has been rebuilt however to show how it used to be. Across the street is the Kenroku-en Garden (see photo). Even though there weren't many flowers this time of year (actually most Japanese gardens only have irises and cherry blossoms), the leaves of the cherry trees were turning yellow and orange and the manicured trees and water areas were stunning. We visited a local craft museum on the property and were introduced to the beautiful lacquer ware (see photo) that Kanazawa is famous for. We then drove to the Samurai house district where we took a walk around the old streets. The buildings are now owned by private residents, but they must maintain the walls and outer parts of their homes (like living in an historic district) and not modernize the outside. The walls are made of stone on the bottom and stucco above and in the winters when they get heavy snow, the walls are covered with bamboo mats to protect them from the elements. There are also sprinklers built into the road to melt the snow in the winter. We visited an old Samurai residence which is now a museum and owned by a family member. The inside rooms were covered with tatami mats and there was a lovely private garden in the back. She also had some family treasures on display such as pottery, swords and ornate stirrups used by her husband's ancestors. It was all very interesting. We got back on the bus to cross the river and then walked to a local restaurant, a converted bank, for lunch. Thankfully it was a light lunch: chicken and salad and wonderful, warm foccachia (spelling?) bread. Dessert was tea pudding (it actually tasted better than it sounds). From the restaurant, we walked to the "pleasure" district. Most of the houses are converted to shops or restaurants, but there are still some that are used for their original purpose. Junko explained that our idea of a geisha is not quite true. Most of the girls are artists of some sort, playing a musical instrument or dancing, but their main role is conversation and gentile entertainment. They prefer to call themselves geiko instead of geisha as it has a more refined meaning. We did a little shopping on the street and walked back to the bus to go to our last stop of the day. This was a local micro-brewery for sake. Sake is made in the winter, but we watched a video on how it is made - quite involved. We were then given samples of two different types of sake, a sample of sake sponge cake, and sake chocolate topped with large grains of salt. I became several people's best friend when I gave my portions away! Everyone said it was delicious. When we were dropped off at the hotel at 3, it was raining. We opted to drop off our stuff and go for a (wet) walk to visit some local craft shops. We saw some lovely porcelain and lacquer ware, but did not buy anything as most things would not be easily packed for the way home. We rested for a bit and then met up again at 6 for dinner, which is on our own tonight. John, Lana, Dave and I opted for a small Italian restaurant across the street where we shared three small pizzas. It was pouring by dinner time, but we were able to stay dry by crossing the street via an underground passage. Kelly walked with us part way and then peeled off to go into the Market to try one of the conveyor belt sushi restaurants. Apparently, you sit at a large bar and a conveyor belt goes around in front of you. When you see something you want, you choose the plate and eat it. When you are done, they add up the plates that you have had to see how much you owe. We will have to find out tomorrow how it went. The four of us went back through the passage and walked into the basement of the department store which is the food floor to pick out our desserts. I had a lovely slice of chocolate cake. Some of the food looked amazing - the displays were awesome! I will try to go over tomorrow with my camera to take a few shots. Tomorrow we are going up into the nearby mountains to a small village where the houses have thatched roofs. I do hope the weather clears up! By the way, speaking of the weather, I am so glad that I brought mostly short sleeved shirts with me as it is quite warm here and most places are not air conditioned. I will probably wear my sweatshirt tomorrow because it is supposed to be cooler in the mountains, but it really has been quite warm the whole trip.