Washington Plaza Takayama

... were photo-ops right inside the main gate, which of course we utilized. Walked around the lake and then up the hill (read: mountain). Most of the houses were among the trees. The houses themselves, with their fascinating architecture, were arranged as a community, but in reality most had been tens or hundreds of miles about. We got an immediate impression of hokey-ness. But it was still fun, and I enjoyed ...

... two airports, which are at opposite ends of the city, I was flying from, nor the company with which I was flying. The internet in the flat was down and the Internet cafe down the road was closed so I flipped a coin and for once Saint Jude smiled on me and my call of heads for Midway proved to be the money call. I arrived in Washington DC at 3.20, having flown via Atlanta and had my ear talked off by a nice old lady sat next to me, seemingly continuing even when I fell ...

One week out and we're still not completely prepared -- need to book hotels in a couple more cities before we get going. I have a feeling that showing up on the French/Italian Riviera without a reservation in the middle of the European vacation season ...

... about the safety hazard of it...pretty funny. With only a couple more hours before most things closed I hurried over to Shunkei Hall and the Archaeological Museum. Takayama is famous for their Hida Lacquerware and this exhibition hall showcases the tools used to make it and some of the larger finished pieces. Although most of the stuff sold at the shop is ridiculously expensive I did manage to find a few affordable trinkets. I was ...

... when he didn't stamp it at all! I waved to Iain, still waiting in line, and followed the other passengers towards the exit. I didn't notice the large letter B written in yellow highlighter on my Immigration form until a guard steered me in the direction of channel B which turned out to be the Border Control Review area. Iain joined me a few minutes later and we were asked to hand over our documentation and take a ...

... The waiter was way over worked and so the service was slow. The pizza however was awesome. We had Mozzarella and ricotta cheese with sun-dried tomatoes, ground beef and peperoni. Delicious and fresh. The chef was very close to us and we could see him make the pies and constantly adjust the coal ovens to make that perfect fresh pie. See picture. On the way home it ...

We left for the airport after 3pm. There are 5 of us Jon, Nate, Rob, Peter, and myself plus a new guy we just hired, Amit, who is returning to India after working in the States for several years. They're a good group of guys - smart, quick, funny. The line at the desk and through security wasn't too bad and we got to the gate in plenty of time ...

3 days of the big lights, the yellow cabs and greasy chow of the Big Apple. Janice, my co-traveller, my friend are running around in New York being tourists and taking pics, riding the metro, and marvelling at the extremes of American capitalism at its finest. I´ve been here before, but its still a trip to hit Time Square and see all the massive ads, the 24-7 flow of human ...

... impressive. We took advantage of a free guided tour which was brilliant, interesting and well delivered. The city generally is very neat, clean and tidy. The public/civic buildings are all huge and dead imposing, made of stone in classical styles. All too soon we were boarding our last but one, 32nd, flight with three groups of young school kids, joy oh joy.

The snow isn't falling as heavily now. I suppose you could see maybe 700 feet before it's too white, although the visibility at that distance would be unreliable anyway. We were just pulled off the road by some traffic police or something. Apparently the roads ahead are closed, and they're pulling all the trucks and other large vehicles off the road, including our big bus. So now we're sitting at a rest stop of some sort. We were on our way to the hotel we're staying at ...