In-laws on the town!

For reasons that may or may not be genetic, Ben and Melissa wanted to go to bed early tonight. Luckily, Ben’s better half was up for a little exploring with me after the kids went to bed!

Our first stop looked intriguing...

This is the purveyor of the aforementioned “Bushmeat.” He was there! Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to like foreigners. One look at us, and this fine hunter declared his “kitchen broken” and sent us on our way.

Undeterred, we soon found a quality Yakitoi establishment willing to provide us with both biru and meat on skewers.

We still wanted to sample a bit more of the Takayama night life, so we continued to search. This was not a smart stop, for reasons that are probably evident from the signage.

After several twists and turns, we walked into the Red Hill Bar, listing one in the Lonely Planet Guide to Takayama nightlife (though we did not know that at the time). 

There, we met Jules and Caroline, two of the nicest Australians one could hope to come across. 

All of that, and still home by 10:30!

Takayama, Day 2 (Temples!)

It was supposed to rain ALL DAY here in Takayama, so we went into Day 8 with low expectations.  I headed out for what I expected to be a drenched of a run, and... the rain stopped, never to return!

So when Ben and I got back from our respective trots, we headed out into the town to go see some of the region’s famous, wooden, temples.



This the regional mascot, more or less - the “Lucky Monkey Baby.”

The temple walk is phenomenally beautiful.

Syl channeling her dad!

Sometimes you just have to take a load off.

Soba for lunch, in yet another fabulous restaurant.

This was my plate, alone!

Amazing that we had room for ice cream, but we did.

Finally, we visited the regional government headquarters under the Shoguns. Very cool, and very well-preserved.















I don’t know how Hiba beef, the local speciality, compares to Kobe, but I have to think favorably. It is good enough for me to take this stick from a woman on the street and eat it. 

For her part, Melissa found her go-to restaurant. Not.

We opted for yet another delicious sushi dinner, this time prepared by this delightful, friendly fellow, at a restaurant right around the corner from our house.

Day 7 (Tokyo to Takayama)

We bid farewell to our AirBnB in Tokyo this morning, and headed to Tokyo Station to board a bullet train to Takayama.

The Japanese rail system is definitely all it is cracked up to be: clean, comfortable, smooth, and FAST!







We had a quick transfer about half way through the trip, and on the second leg had the treat of riding in the front car, with spectacular views on three sides!

Watching the Japanese countryside change from urban to mountain rural was hypnotic. Of course neither photos nor video can really do it justice, but I tried.









Here’s a quick video that I put together mostly in transit!

We arrived in Takayama mid afternoon, and quickly found the spectacular AirBnB that Uncle Ben and Aunt Lia booked.

Syl immediately commandeered an artist’s corner.

We headed out into the drizzle to explore old Takayama, where most of the buildings are still wooden, and to find some dinner.













Look! Local beer!

The staff at this place were phenomenally hospitable, and the food—prepared at our table—was delicious.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?