After the huge meal at the ryokan, we went to bed fairly early. The futons were laid out for us at about 9:00pm, and I'm pretty sure I went straight to sleep. It was much more comfortable than my bed back at home.
I woke up the next day quite early. The sun coming through the blinds looked so nice I decided to take some early morning photos while Dede was still dead to the world.
Soon after getting up it was time for breakfast. While it was much smaller than dinner, I was still full from the night before.
Miso cooking. We had pieces of nori, which we filled with rice and miso, which made a kind of sushi (explained to us by another nice lady). It was really nice. I love miso soup, but generally don't like miso on it's own. It's far too strong. But this way was really delicious.
We stayed in our room until checkout, but I really didn't want to go. It was so relaxing, and another night there would have been ideal. But alas, it was Sunday and I had work the next day. Upon checking out, the lady gave us both some pretty red chopsticks. She was very kind upon arrival and departure, and kept acting very surprised at my level of Japanese. We had heard some people talking very loudly in English in the room next to ours during dinner to their server, so I assume they didn't know very much.
Next, we soon came upon one of the two morning markets, and the older parts of town.
I like this photo of me best. Dede always make me stop and smile at the camera. It's so unnatural and I always look average. Even though I look funny here it captures the moment.
And then it was time for lunch, where I had a Hida-Don set meal.
Very yummy, but I was a little put off that they gave me a spoon. I suppose they get a lot of tourists who can't use chopsticks, but they didn't give a spoon to Dede! I guess I just hate it that some people assume you are a tourist. I probably hate it even more when people say "Wow, you can use chopsticks!! How on earth did you learn that?" Umm...we have chopsticks back home too. And I've been using them ever since I can remember. Talk about frustrating!
Seeing as we came by train and not car, we could only visit places on foot. Because of this, we had hours to spend until our train. We ended up finding a bowling alley, had three games where I lost miserably, then onto a nearby park. I had a nap on the park bench! I was tired out.
And that was our time in Takayama. I wish we had longer to explore, but I was very happy. I would love to go back again sometime.
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