Up at the ungodly hour of 8 this morning to give us a full day in Nagano (and a whole day to find an open post office and bank!). Our journey to Nagano got off to a miserable start. The ticket guy at Tokyo station had given us seats in smoking cars going to Nagano and coming back. Since Fiona didn't want to stand in the corridor the whole way there she went and sat in our smoky seats. I stood in the corridor but soon accosted a conductor and managed to make it understood that we wanted non-smoking seats. After about five minutes, he came back to me having gained us places in the first car (non-smoking - hurrah!).
The journey to Nagano was beautiful but something of a missed opportunity for photos as most of the best shots would have occurred while we were in tunnels. Shikata ga nai. As per before, Nagano was no cooler than Tokyo (27°C) despite Dan's sage advice - "it'll be cooler because it's in the mountains".
The biggest disappointment for me was the fact that the Higashiyama Kaii gallery was closed! It was really the one thing in Nagano I wanted to see.
Also disappointing was the fact that we couldn't find Ando-san, Dan's boss for part of the time he was a JET. However, the trip to Nagano wasn't by any means a wash-out because Zenkoo-ji is phenomenal, and we got some lovely pressies for the folks back home.
On the way home we stopped in Ueno, rather than carrying on to the terminus at Tokyo eki, so we could go and eat in Tawaramachi. Fiona had promised me dinner so we went to a little okonomiyaki place I know called Sometaro (well, it was recommended in the Rough Guide actually). The food was great and so was the price, but the heat in the place, what with all the grills and it still being about 25°C outside, was nigh on unbearable.
After that, we got back to Ikebukuro fine, but I was accosted on the way back to the hotel by a Japanese gentleman trying to sell me the use of a very pretty young lady for an hour for 8000¥, until he saw that Fiona and I were happy enough together...
The journey to Nagano was beautiful but something of a missed opportunity for photos as most of the best shots would have occurred while we were in tunnels. Shikata ga nai. As per before, Nagano was no cooler than Tokyo (27°C) despite Dan's sage advice - "it'll be cooler because it's in the mountains".
The biggest disappointment for me was the fact that the Higashiyama Kaii gallery was closed! It was really the one thing in Nagano I wanted to see.
Also disappointing was the fact that we couldn't find Ando-san, Dan's boss for part of the time he was a JET. However, the trip to Nagano wasn't by any means a wash-out because Zenkoo-ji is phenomenal, and we got some lovely pressies for the folks back home.
On the way home we stopped in Ueno, rather than carrying on to the terminus at Tokyo eki, so we could go and eat in Tawaramachi. Fiona had promised me dinner so we went to a little okonomiyaki place I know called Sometaro (well, it was recommended in the Rough Guide actually). The food was great and so was the price, but the heat in the place, what with all the grills and it still being about 25°C outside, was nigh on unbearable.
After that, we got back to Ikebukuro fine, but I was accosted on the way back to the hotel by a Japanese gentleman trying to sell me the use of a very pretty young lady for an hour for 8000¥, until he saw that Fiona and I were happy enough together...
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