I think my day counting has been rather suspect, but that's how it seems to go on trips like this, where everything is slightly skewed as far as dates and times. I'm sitting down to a pizza for dinner in a little walk-up Italian style cafe and it is 2:30 a.m. back in Texas. It begins to feel like the dark side of the moon after a couple of weeks. The pizza just came and it is GOOD! Actually, almost all the food is good, but so many times you don't have a clue as to what you are ordering, basing it on pictures that never seem to communicate what it is you'll be getting. It becomes a fun little game, one in which I commit to at least give a go at whatever arrives at my table. The thing I can hardly stomach is how everyone smokes...like right here in my little pizza cafe. Ugh.
But there is some really good Western soft jazz on and a cooler breeze coming in the open window, so I can persevere.
Last night I had a wonderful yakatori style dinner with Jay Paydayachee from Durbin, South Africa and Cyntia and Naomi Martinez from Guadalajara, Mexico. The four of us were the only gaijin karateka left in our hotel, so it felt a bit sad as it always does when all these amazing people depart for the far places of the planet after you become family and have shared so many experiences over a couple of weeks of training. We all filled up on wonderful, thin-sliced Kobe beef, in-house made sausages, salads, and a couple of pitchers of cold Kirin beer. The nice thing about grilling these small portions is that you relax into it, converse more, enjoy the taste more, and eat less. Jay was heading all the way back up to Omagari to train more with Fujiwara Shihan. Mother and daughter Martinez were heading for Kyoto to sightsee.
I did my morning bathing and soak ritual as I have every day since arriving, then hit the JR Station and headed for Matsumoto, which right now seems as wonderful as I'd hoped for: much cooler, smaller, beautiful surrounding mountains, and many locals who speak some English.
The route was Wakayama to Shin-Osaka, Shin-Osaka to Nagoya, then Nagoya to Matsumoto. This is considered the gateway to the Japanese Alps and Nagano Prefecture is called "the roof of Japan" because of the altitude. It's lovely. There were a lot of people in the train station with backpacks and hiking boots, and quite a few traveling Europeans, so it obviously has has an international reputation for mountain hiking and skiing.
The country coming up was pretty awesome. It was raining from Kyoto on, and there has been some significant flooding in a couple of prefectures. For me, the rain added a dreamy atmosphere -- rushing rivers, mist hanging in the mountains, green green green! It felt like the Cascades of Washington State on steroids. Train travel, in my humble opinion, far exceeds air travel, especially these trains that are on time to the minute and connect so well.
Somehow I ended up in the swankiest western style hotel in town for $76 including breakfast. However, tomorrow night they have no more non-smoking rooms, so I need to get on the internet (Wifi again!!!) and see what else I can get a deal on. I want to rent a bike in the morning and go to the castle and explore a bit. So much easier on bike. I still don't feel recovered from all the training, so I'm being kind to my body, especially the knees. It is so much more temperate here, I could stay longer, but my departure draws near and I am really missing being with my Sweetheart back in Austin.
Well, I think I'll go for a stroll and walk off this fine dinner and enjoy this cool smaller city. So far so good.
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