October 10, 2024
This post will be short due to the day being occupied by train rides and some technical issues getting photos off the camera.
We awoke to bright sunshine in our little hostel/apartment along the shore of the island that faces our destination town, Onomichi. I was curious to exploe the town before Alice wanted to get up and going , so I went out with my biek
As I rode into town I was amazed at the number of students riding their bikes into town also. The boys with their white shirts and girls with white blouses and grey or plaid skirts. Everything uniform.
But their routes actually required them to cross by ferry into town, and their was a traffice jam of people trying to get there.
Fortunately, I discovered that our ferry was much less busy. Also, there was a large grocery store with some seating and breakfast setup including coffee. I went back to the apartment, picked up Alice and we headed to that grocery store for breakfast and coffee. It was light , but appreciated.
We got on the ferry with no problem and crossed quickly. It was easy to return our bikes to Better Bike Company. the same rep was up and setting up bikes and recognized us as we pulled up. Everything was just as it should be and we said our good-byes and picked up our luggage that they had held for us. We walked to the train station , 1.2 km to the west, enjoying the warm, sunny morning.
We quickly determined the local train we would need to take to Fukushima where we could pick up the bullet train into Osaka. Everything worked like clockwork, and we were in Osaka by 1 pm. Our hotel was fairly easy to find once the GPS stopped being confused by tall buildings.
We headed out into the city by local train/subway, using our IC cards for instant ticketing along the way. These are pre-programmed and loaded cards that let you just swipe in and swipe out of any local train. The system keeps track of your cash balance.
We decided to go to the Osaka Castle.
Walking into the large park that surround the Osaka castle people from all over where enjoying the day, strolling and sitting on the grass. We saw some unusual pets.
We stopped at a little cafe and had some interesting lemonade that contaned firm lemon gelatin and was clearly fresh squeezed. We sat outside in the shade behind the little restaurant with a perfect light breeze on an 80 degree day. Then we sauntered over to the Osaka castle which is quite massive and gold encrusted. While there we watched some street performers which was fun. They had a mild circus like act they were performing.
Afterwards we headed back on the Osaka circuit light rail and then connected at Osaka station, and then on to Shin-Osaka (meaning new Osaka ), build specifically to accomodate the bullet trains. Our hotel is right next to that station.
After a little rest and reorganizing our luggage, and getting a shower(!), we headed off into the neighborhood to find some food. We found a Korean restaurant which had wonderfully fresh food. They set up a grill with charcoal at our table where we grllled some pork and beef and then gave us side dishes. It was delicious, but I had to depend on Alice to find our way through the unfamiliar menu and stay away from the more bizarre items.
We are comfortably lodged in a nice hotel, and ready for heading on to Taiwan by China Airlines tomorrow.l