As we mentioned, while we expected Takayama to be a whole in the ground, it's really quite charming and we really love it. On the evening that we arrived, we didn't really go out - we just went to the Family Mart to get some dinner and milk for Sophie and turned in fairly early.
On our first full day, we decided to take it easy and tour the town, a decision that we are really happy we made. We ran into a really sweet couple a few minutes after we started and they were looking for some specialty needlepoint shop that her sister had recommended. It seemed that we were going the same way, so we walked into the shop when we found it, and that was just a gem! We ended up getting a few gifts there, but it was really hard to choose, because the place was so great!
The whole town is just picturesque, at least the parts of the old town. Our hostel is really close to the old city, so it was a lot of fun and not too far away, though we ended up literally walking around the whole town!
We walked into virtually every store we saw, bought a few more souvenirs, and tasted loads of local foods (the stores had a bunch of samples of, like, everything, which was a smart decision since we ended up buying some).
We literally walked around town all day, had lunch, walked some more, saw some more cute shops, and watched Sophie play with every dog that she saw.
We turned in really early (like 8:30 early) because we were exhausted, and we knew we had a very long day ahead of us.
This morning, our alarm clock (Sophie) only went off at 7:45 - late wake up!! But of course, it meant we got a later start than we had intended.
We walked to the old city again where the famous Takayama Festival had begun. During the day, there were tons of cute stands selling everything you could possibly think of. At 11 there was a puppet show, which they have been doing for hundreds of years, and while it was cute, it was really long, so we broke off and had a snack.
We then walked over to the river where all of the floats that would be in the parade later were displayed. It's a really good thing that we had gone to see the floats in the morning, because they were harder to see at night!
Anyway, we grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and got on a bus for Shirakawa-go, an old town about 50 minutes away whose houses are protected world heritage sites. The town is gorgeous!
But a moment about the bus ride. We took a tour(ish) because it was about $10 per person cheaper than going on the regular bus, and the bonus is we got a really awesome tour guide. He was so funny. He kept explaining what we were looking at, but he was hilarious, making jokes and just explaining everything in a really funny way. He even went by each couple/family and took pictures of them for them on the bus!
They took us to a really gorgeous lookout (that we wouldn't have been able to get to without a car), and then we parked and were left to our own devices (with a map).
A world heritage site, the houses in Shirakawa-go are built in a very special manner. Many of the houses are open to the public (at a fee), and have been converted into museums. Some of the houses were stunning! If we ever get rich and built our own home, we will definitely be borrowing some of the Japanese architectural styles.
A few minutes after we arrived, Sophie fell asleep, which was great because it was really late and she hadn't napped, and we would have all suffered if she hadn't napped. Luckily we took the back carrier so we didn't have to deal with stroller in very tight (or impossible) situations.
We reluctantly got back to the bus and went back to Takayama, but the day wasn't over yet, because the highlight of the Takayama Festival is the parade at night!
The parade was really pretty, which you can't tell by the pictures, so we didn't take too many. Sophie had a great time and waved at a lot of people. She also started saying "chien" today, which means dog. So that's her fourth word (First - this in Hebrew (and English), second - thank you (in Hebrew), third - sit! (in French)).
We left the parade before it ended, not because it was boring, but because we knew we needed to get Sophie to bed, and it was fairly repetitive at that point. Sophie fell asleep pretty quickly, so we sat down in the room with two beers to celebrate the end of our trip. I mean, they threw us a parade and everything!
Pictures from Takayama (two links, the second is from the Kyoto and Takayama album): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152728287190364.1073741838.906005363&type=3 and https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725771680364.1073741837.906005363&type=3
On our first full day, we decided to take it easy and tour the town, a decision that we are really happy we made. We ran into a really sweet couple a few minutes after we started and they were looking for some specialty needlepoint shop that her sister had recommended. It seemed that we were going the same way, so we walked into the shop when we found it, and that was just a gem! We ended up getting a few gifts there, but it was really hard to choose, because the place was so great!
The whole town is just picturesque, at least the parts of the old town. Our hostel is really close to the old city, so it was a lot of fun and not too far away, though we ended up literally walking around the whole town!
We walked into virtually every store we saw, bought a few more souvenirs, and tasted loads of local foods (the stores had a bunch of samples of, like, everything, which was a smart decision since we ended up buying some).
We literally walked around town all day, had lunch, walked some more, saw some more cute shops, and watched Sophie play with every dog that she saw.
We turned in really early (like 8:30 early) because we were exhausted, and we knew we had a very long day ahead of us.
This morning, our alarm clock (Sophie) only went off at 7:45 - late wake up!! But of course, it meant we got a later start than we had intended.
We walked to the old city again where the famous Takayama Festival had begun. During the day, there were tons of cute stands selling everything you could possibly think of. At 11 there was a puppet show, which they have been doing for hundreds of years, and while it was cute, it was really long, so we broke off and had a snack.
We then walked over to the river where all of the floats that would be in the parade later were displayed. It's a really good thing that we had gone to see the floats in the morning, because they were harder to see at night!
Anyway, we grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and got on a bus for Shirakawa-go, an old town about 50 minutes away whose houses are protected world heritage sites. The town is gorgeous!
But a moment about the bus ride. We took a tour(ish) because it was about $10 per person cheaper than going on the regular bus, and the bonus is we got a really awesome tour guide. He was so funny. He kept explaining what we were looking at, but he was hilarious, making jokes and just explaining everything in a really funny way. He even went by each couple/family and took pictures of them for them on the bus!
They took us to a really gorgeous lookout (that we wouldn't have been able to get to without a car), and then we parked and were left to our own devices (with a map).
A world heritage site, the houses in Shirakawa-go are built in a very special manner. Many of the houses are open to the public (at a fee), and have been converted into museums. Some of the houses were stunning! If we ever get rich and built our own home, we will definitely be borrowing some of the Japanese architectural styles.
A few minutes after we arrived, Sophie fell asleep, which was great because it was really late and she hadn't napped, and we would have all suffered if she hadn't napped. Luckily we took the back carrier so we didn't have to deal with stroller in very tight (or impossible) situations.
We reluctantly got back to the bus and went back to Takayama, but the day wasn't over yet, because the highlight of the Takayama Festival is the parade at night!
The parade was really pretty, which you can't tell by the pictures, so we didn't take too many. Sophie had a great time and waved at a lot of people. She also started saying "chien" today, which means dog. So that's her fourth word (First - this in Hebrew (and English), second - thank you (in Hebrew), third - sit! (in French)).
We left the parade before it ended, not because it was boring, but because we knew we needed to get Sophie to bed, and it was fairly repetitive at that point. Sophie fell asleep pretty quickly, so we sat down in the room with two beers to celebrate the end of our trip. I mean, they threw us a parade and everything!
Pictures from Takayama (two links, the second is from the Kyoto and Takayama album): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152728287190364.1073741838.906005363&type=3 and https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725771680364.1073741837.906005363&type=3
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