As wonderful as Tokyo is, it was brilliant to escape for a few days.

We travelled to Kobe on the Shinkansen …. 2.5 hours on the train v 6.5 hours driving, and picked up a hire car on our arrival. Although some of the State of Emergency restrictions have lifted, restaurants close at 8 pm with last orders for drinks at 7pm. Too late for a restaurant, our first night’s meal was from a convenience store; it was heated up in the store and we hot-footed it back to eat in our hotel. We more than made up for it on our second night, after all if you are in Kobe what do you eat? Kobe beef of course in the best restaurant you can find!

Geoff worked whilst I looked around. Here are a few photos –

Ikuta Shrine

I love a good shrine and Ikuta Shine at 1800 years is one of the oldest in Japan.

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I enjoy the fortunes you purchase at shrines; unfortunately there weren’t any with English expressions so I bought a lucky charm. I like to think of this as my small contribution to the upkeep of the shrine! Here at Ikutu there are fortune tickets that you have to float in the small pool to reveal the message. Two schoolgirls kindly shared the experience with me.

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I was excited to see a large straw circle here too, and have since learned that these are Chinowa. Visitors to the shrine walk through the ring in a figure of 8 and are purified of any diseases, bad luck, bad energy etc. Along with my first Covid jab I’m hoping I now have a good second half of the year ahead of me!

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Traditional Shopping Streets

These seem to be common in many areas and I presume were the forerunner of shopping malls

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Random Photos

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and ….. !

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Himeji Castle

One of the oldest surviving castles in Japan, dating from 1331, and definitely older than me!

Known as the ‘White Heron Castle’ it has a charmed existence since it has never been besieged, bombed or burned. It has of course been through various remodelling with new parts added over the years. It is one of the largest castles in Japan and was one of the first UNESCO sites in Japan. The only stone structures are its foundations; the castle’s buildings are wood, earth & plaster.

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and more birds ..

These are in Himeji … a very grey day so photos are rather dark.

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