5 - Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka

5 - Hiroshima, Kobe, Osaka

Woke up at 5:30ish today, I guess that's better? Today plan is to go to Kobe for the beef, explore a bit, Osaka after, some explore and a booked food tour.

But I might go to the hotel public bath first now that it opened

It's so good... The funniest part is we've only used our shower since we moved to our house, bath tub hasn't been used once, but here I'm finding for them

Ok, checked out, dropped our bags for delivery to Kyoto, just backpacks for the day. Coffee and breakfast then shinkansen to Kobe

We're zooming

The GO and VIA Rail could never

It's crazy how many mountains they just drilled through to make the trains zoom zoom through, half the ride is just piercing through mountains so far

Now arriving at Kobe

Ropeway to a vantage point and garden and then the historic area before lunch

Helpful floor markers

Alright made it up, very nice views of the city

This place is very colonial feeling, it's straight out of a private all-girls Christian ojousama school manga

The "glasshouse"

Honestly this place kind of rocks, wish we had more time before lunch, could easily relax at the cafe by the terrace for a while and at the relaxation hammocks throughout, very nicely set up garden

Now on the way down and we'll check out the colonial houses briefly before lunch in an hour

It seems like because Kobe was where foreign powers had their embassies and houses in the 1800s the previous rich European school vibe was more generalized than I thought, especially in the ijingai (the different people's quarter)

It's like little (Tudor) Europe, very different vibe but we've been to the source, it's probably more exciting for people that haven't gone?

Some more as we walk to the Kobe beef lunch

Now kobe beef time at Kobe Steak Ishida Ikuta-Shinmichi

The beef presented for our pleasure.

Teppanyaki style, I've never had well prepared wagyu I think but it really does melt in your mouth, it's kind of impressive how not fatty it felt given how much it has...

I know intellectually that there's nothing super particularly special about eating Kobe beef in Kobe vs good wagyu elsewhere but emotionally it's satisfying and it was quite tasty (even if it does have the name tax), the guy had been doing it for 19 years he said

Some other more downtown shots of Kobe that are less European

Important news on the train to Osaka

Hello Osaka

The subway gives path vibes

Short stop at the hotel and now going to a recommended area with fun shops before the food tour

Such a different experience to what we've done so far

Asked if she wanted to go there but she couldn't make out the words without her glasses but then said "I thought those were girls", so I guess not

I don't know if I agree

Spent some time walking around a thrift shoppy more alternative area with some really cool stores but the stuff I liked didn't fit

Food tour starting in what most stayed with me from my previous visit to Osaka, Shin Sekai

The guide is a Chilean that lived in Sweden and then here for 13 years

First dish was ebi tempura udon, pretty tast-y

This shin Sekai is so much more alive than when I came 13 years ago what the heck

The portions at the sumo inspired resto lmao

Yakiniku, Tori and some ground chicken one

More food as we went

This fried mochi ice cream was actually a surprising highlight, it was almost marshmallow-y

And then even more

Honestly the good was family underwhelming outside a couple of things but it was fun and got to talk to some Australians doing the same thing, it was a good way to taste a bunch of stuff but probably shouldn't have done it on the same day as our lunch... Now I'm in bed and sleepy and too full

Tomorrow will be Osaka Castle in the AM then Kyoto, drop off bags there, then walk a bit and we have Miyako Odori at 4:30 but otherwise is fairly unstructured