Super Hotel Hida-Takayama

... home! So after more stops at rest stops and potty breaks we pulled up in front of my apartment 22 hours after we left in the morning – beat!

The Mano family are the sweetest people I have ever met and generous beyond belief. I am so grateful that they are so kind to invite me to go on these great trips, I have seen some amazing places during my visits here!

I hope all is well with you and yours and that your Thanksgiving is wonderful!!!!


More later . . .

... radishes (daikon and another variety that looks like ours but more the size of a turnip), chili peppers, huge apples that are very tasty, all varieties of pickled foods, bok choy cabbages the size of basketballs, many other things I didn’t recognize.

(Side note: I just passed someone in the lobby on my way to put clothes into the dryer and he asked me where my jacket was. It’s a lovely 57 degrees out! Who needs a jacket ...

... tub in an enclosed space outside and proceeded to soak in that on my own for a good 20 mins (i believe the term i would use to describe my complexion after that was beetroot!).

Post soak and it was time for dinner at a local eatery which was kind enough to introduce us to a local delicacy of the region- Hida beef. While quite fatty, this beef is quite lean on the outside with most of the fat content coming from the multiple, fine marbled lines that run through it ...

... les restaurants. En fait, les retardataires ferment a 7h maximum. J'ai donc pris un peu de temps pour vous ecrire parce que dans les autres villes, je ne suis pas certaine que j'aurai autant de temps de disponible.

Nous habitons dans un ryokan mais rien a voir avec le Motonago de Kyoto. Nous devons partager la douche et le bain....comme dans un gym. Moyen mais bon, il fait assez chaud, je ne passerai pas 2 jours ...

... but we couldn't find it. Finally asked at a post office and found out we’d been reading the map upside down. Kuso. Walked back through town, in the rain. Turned on the right street, but still didn’t see the hotel. So I called them. Unfortunately, at "Oyado Banyo. No English." He finally hung up on me. Kuso. Walked a little farther down and saw the ryokan on another street. Finally.

The ...

So sorry that you havent received any news from us....from Mt.Fuji on, we didnt have any access....We stayed at the World Heritag Cultural Site in Gokayama, which was like staying at a camp.Basically, we have been in a mountainous area...the students have been writing a journal every day - One student writes about our day and at the end of the trip these pages will be copied by the leaders and a booklet will be made for ...

... she owns the whole of japan, this going on the " if i like it it's mine, if i see it's mine" principle.
i love you sweetheart. we both miss you both. i'm getting some stares here, so i need to go. i'll try to get on computer tonite. have to do laundry too.
i'll tell tim about orientation stuff. that was very thoughtful of you.
miss you much, you too kate :)
love you forever, like you for always
mom

A Takayama on loge dans un temple, plutot sympa ! La ville est assez touristique et on comprend pourquoi : elle regorge de temples, vieilles batisses, distilleries de sake. Il y a beaucoup d'artisanat local : bois laque, sculptures, herbes sechees... Les sobas (nouille) au sarasin sont la specialite du coin et on approuve ;-) Toujours impossible d'aller a Kamikochi, meme de ce cote. On declare donc forfait et on part vers le sud...

... di stasera era una di quelle che avrei fotografato volentieri. Credo di aver cambiato modo di viaggiare negli anni, ora quello che tento di fare e' di sentire i posti, piu' che vederli. Viverli, per quanto mi e' possibile. E devo dire che con discreto stupore ho scoperto che riesco a farlo anche avendo a disposizione "solo" due settimane. Pensavo ci volesse piu' tempo, e invece... chissa', forse ho imparato. Sulla strada per rientrare mi ...

... s cherry tree blossoms, and alongside the shops that implored us to purchase fish food to throw to the carps populating the river below. We sauntered through the old streets of Takayama, with its private houses, museums and stores sitting side by side, advertising traditional Takayama crafts of wood and furniture carving, laquerware, and rustic pottery. We meandered while munching on mitarashi dango, grilled rice dumplings marinated in a soy-based ...