Day 167 in Japan - Home is the Skiier Home from the Slopes

Our train was relatively early this morning, so we got up at a quite reasonable hour to go out for breakfast at the nearby cafe, and actually had a nice coffee and some good eggs for breakfast!

Afterwards, we lugged our bags through the snow (via taxi) to Hakuba station. I had the most picturesque train trip that I have ever been on, with the little old train winding it's through the snowy mountains and sleepy little snow villages. Met a new Japanese friend, who had spotted me trying to study Japanese and gave me a hand, and got some Japanese lessons off Shane, my new hero (blah blah blah nakerebanaraimasu = you must do blah blah blah).

We got off the train in Matsumoto (still in Nagano Prefecture) and went to visit a famous nearby castle for a few hours. It was a beautiful place for some photos. While Jodie and Fiona went for an look inside, I wandered in the park with the boys. A slightly crazy-looking man (who was definitely a gaijin, although he was a gaijin with pretty decent Japanese) kept giving us bread to feed the pigeons and koi that were swimming in the castles moat. The koi weren't so bad, but the pigeons were really going nuts for the bread, and we were trying to just get rid of the bread as quickly as we could so they'd leave us alone, but the nice (crazy) man kept giving us more. Eventually we escaped the birds and the man, and walked around the park for a while. We ate Italian food from a really friendly restaurant (HUUUUGE spaghetti dish for Jodes and I), then went to find where our bus was departing from.

The whole gang at Matsumoto Castle

Horrible gaping / I don't know why but I just / Don't like these dumb fish (a haiku for koi)

Simon, with a rat of the sky

Matsumoto Castle with the lovely mountains of Nagano in the background.

A CAULDRON of lunch.

Then started the 5 hour bus ride home. Got some more Japanese lessons from Shane, ate a lot of chocolate almonds (thanks Jodie!), crocheted a hat and finally got back to Osaka at about 9:30. We all said our goodbyes Oceans 11 style, with each person peeling off at their respective train line and stop. Got home at about 10, ate toast and fell into bed.

Food Highlight of the Day: Giant pasta for lunch. Sausage, bacon and broccoli.