Hotel Akitaya Aomori

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Just started this blog to try and remember all that we've done so far. It is day 10 here in Japan and the weather has been very hot and humid. It has been so hot that Skyler said that he wished the outside would have airconditioning! We've spent almost everyday going to ...

... in the south of Japan, but they're positively gigantic compared to these little northern munchkins. Why? Well, we reckon it's got to do with their lifestyle. They ride their little bikes and walk everywhere, eat little bowls of sea creatures and sea vegetables and rarely breed with the outside world. AND, they seem excruciatingly happy. They certainly put a lot of effort into promoting happiness. There are 'happy buns', 'happy stores' and smiley faces on each ...

... and let me know that would be really cool    After the blossoms we walked around the city and visited a old fashioned dye shop and bought some souvenirs.  Aomeri is known for it's apples (fuji mostly) and they make all sorts of apple treats, wines and juices.  We got lots of free samples and I bought a bottle of Sakura Liqueur (made from the cherry blossoms in the park) and Apple wine.  I'm going ...

... I think it would be a fantastic place in the summer or autumn, but we were just a bit too early in the spring. Close to the train station, we stopped by an enormous farm that specialized in dairy cattle and layer chickens. We wandered abot the grounds for a bit, with Kaoru chirping about the cows. When we came out of the main exhibit building, one of the workers was bringing a cow across the yard. Kaoru ...

... avoiding puddles, and in the warmth... so we waited. And waited. And waited... one couple was missing. The tour guides and bus driver went out again into the rain (looking like miserable drowned rats) until the couple showed up... he mumbled something our way, and she stood up and apologized with sincere dignity. The rest of the bus was not amused, but we moved on. The male was then dubbed "mr. late" and we never saw him smile after that moment. Oh, I ...

... there we reached a small town where it is possible to visit Samurai houses (very touristic...). We stopped few days around Tazawa lake, the deapest in Japan (428m). We enjoyed the Onsen (hot springs) of the area and some hiking. After a nice rest around the lake we headed to Aomori to make our last stop in Tohoku. This town is not really nice as it was ...

Aomori est une ville neuve (car entierement detruite pendant la seconde guerre mondiale), logee dans dans une baie au nord de Honshu, avec un enorme pont suspendu et un immeuble ultra-moderne en forme de triangle equilateral, mouais... moderne quoi ! A quelques km au sud, un imposant massif (le Hakkoda-San) est repute pour la marche, le ski et ...

Why make plans? Not even three days into my Japan Odyssey & already my schedule is out the window. Mike, my new traveling partner from Chicago, "convinces" me to join him for two festivals back to back. The Kanto Matsuri in Akita & the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori. We are going Spartan style for this one, not knowing where or even if we will be able to sleep we decided on bringing only the essentials and leaving everything else at the train ...

... sure it was, but the ***** of gulls discouraged us in the enjoyable cruising there. Still, the scenery was beautiful at least. Sendai had a Star festival on the same day, but it was not so good, compared to the Nebuta Festival. We happened to find a sauna house in the city and we were so lucky that the house was closed down on the next day. We got up a little bit earlier than we asked to be waken up at ...