Today we headed from Takayama to Kanazawa.
Our first stop after our hotel was the Gold Leaf museum.
Then it was on to the Omi-cho Market.
A water fountain outside the Kanazawa train station.
Japan 2018 Day 17: Takayama to Kanazawa
Japan 2018 Day 15: Kyoto to Takayama
Today we traveled from Kyoto to Takayama.
This was a Limited Express train with wide scenic windows.
These girls had a tripod setup and were taking pictures of themselves.
Gillian with a wood sculpture.
Some giant carp flags.
We toured around the streets of Takayama.
Gillian wanted to go to Hida-Furukawa station which was a 20 minute train ride. It is the station that appears in the movie Kimi no na wa (Your Name).
The train was pretty empty.
There were spots around the train station that appear in the movie, like this view of the train station.
A group shot while waiting for the train back to Takayama.
This was a liquor store across from the Takayama train station.
Japan 2018 Day 10: Nachi-Katsuura to Tanabe to Hiroshima
We started the day travelling from Nachi-Katsuura to Tanabe City with our final destination Hiroshima.
Standing in front of the Tanabe Tourist Information Center.
We walked around Tanabe, as we had some time before our train to Osaka.
The Tanabe train station on the left.
Gillian by the Tanabe clock.
It wasn’t a very busy city.
Not a lot of touristy bling in any of the stores that were near the train station.
From Tanabe, it was back on the train to Osaka and then a transfer to the bullet train to Hiroshima.
Arrived in Hiroshima.
Walking to our hotel. We had used one of the luggage services to send our bags ahead to the hotel from our Osaka hotel so we didn’t have to deal with them on our side trip.
In the evening we headed to Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Bay.
More deer on the island.
The famous Great Torii Gate is partially submerged at high tide
We were there for sunset.
Group shot.
The Toyokuni Shrine (5 storey).
It was nice to see the Tori gate at sunset, but a lot of the stores and restaurants were closed already, so it would have been nice to spend some more time on the island. After we got off the ferry we had dinner at one of the local restaurants before catching the train back to our hotel.
Japan 2018 Day 9: Osaka to Nachi-Katsuura
Today we headed to Nachi-Katsuura in the Wakayama region. This is the area Dad’s family came from.
There are a lot of cemeteries along the way.
Once we got off the train, we left our bags in a locker by the hotel and then caught a bus to Nachi Falls. Shanna and Gillian hiked from the bottom up to the waterfall, Susan and I stayed on the bus a couple of stops more to have a shorted walk to Nachi Falls.
Nachi Falls in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, is one of the best-known waterfalls in Japan. With a drop of 133 meters, it is the country’s tallest water fall with single uninterrupted drop
The Seigantoji Temple.
We met up with Shanna and Gillian somewhere along the trail.
We stayed staying at another traditional style ryokan type hotel in Nachi-Katsuura. There were very few stores and restaurants open.
Ottawa
Gillian has started her final co-op work term. She is up in Ottawa working for Spartan Bioscience. Susan and I drove up with Gillian at the end of August to help her move-in. She is renting a room in a house about a 10 minute drive from work.
After we dropped her things off we headed into Ottawa, we were staying for a few days and booked a room at the Novotel Hotel downtown. The first night we headed over to Parliament Hill for the Northern Lights show.
It is a pretty impressive show and the way in which they project it onto the building.
It ends with O Canada.
The Chateau Laurier.
The Ottawa sign was in the Byword Market area.
We made the walk across the river to Gatineau.
We went to the MOSAICANADA 150 in Jacques-Cartier Park.
The theme of the exhibit reflects 150 years of history, values, culture and arts in Canada.
Gillian taking photos of a girl and her maman.
The Rideau Canal Locks 1-8.
Every Wednesday through the summer they have Yoga on the Hill. This was the last one of the year.
Gillian and Susan with the Canada 150 sign.
We walked the length of the Sparks Street Mall.
On the Thursday we headed back to Gatineau to visit the Canadian Museum of History (formerly the Museum of Civilization). There was a Hockey special exhibit. Here is Gillian with Sidney Crosby.
New this year is the Canadian History Hall.
It was a cloudy morning, but by the time we finished at the museum it had cleared up, but it was a lot cooler than earlier in the week.
Outside the National Art Gallery.
The Notre Dame Cathedral.
We had walked down to the Mint to visit the gift store.
Gillian Standing for Canada in Inspiration Village.
In the Byword Market area near the Beaver Tails, it was always busy out front.
Gillian dropped us off at the train station.
We took the VIA Rail train back to Union Station and then the GO Train to Lisgar station. Angela was working so Dylan came to pick us up with Claudia.
One of the service attendants on the train also entertains the riders. Shortly after we got back I got a VIA Rail newsletter e-mail and there was a profile on the Zachary Wells. Here he is doing a card trick with Susan.
