In the morning of January 10 we took the train to Matsumoto. We visited the Matsumoto Castle, Japan’s oldest wooden castle and one of the four castles designated as National Treasures. Here we met Fumio, a volunteer guide that took us around the castle and explained a lot about the history of the city, castle and surrounding areas. Fumio is a 82 year old retired engineer but he has the energy of a 50 year old person; he was going up and down the castle stairs like nothing. The volunteers had a sign on the front door that reads “we only accept smiles as payment”. What a lovely people they were!
Fumio also recommended us to go for a stroll around Nawate-dori Street. This is one of the oldest streets in Matsumoto and has beautiful traditional Japanese houses.
In the afternoon we returned to Kanazawa just to find a very crappy weather, but what the hell this is not going to kill us! In the evening we took the bus to Higashi-chayagai, also known as Higashi Geisha District. We were hoping to encounter a geisha but unfortunately due to the weather nobody was on the streets. We could hear geishas playing music inside one of the geisha houses but could not see anybody walking on the streets.
We finished the day with what could be the worst food experience ever. We order calamari, an appetizer to share and here is where things turn bad. The calamari arrived, it was a dish with 4 small calamari in a sauce placed over a lettuce leaf. They were whole, without cleaning and with the head on. Marcela was brave enough to try it first but her face told me everything about what we had ordered… upon biting it, the eyes explode inside your mouth, the brain breaks into pieces and the guts… well, they mix all together; leaving an unpleasant taste in your mouth. It was hard to swallow to say the least, luckily we had a drink to helps us pass it through. This was the first and last we ordered calamari in Japan that did not say “fried” on the menu.
In the morning of January 11 we visited the Omicho Market in Kanazawa, with a great variety of seafood and vegetables this is busy place among locals; not even the weather stop people from visiting this place.
Around noon we went to walk around the Kanazawa Castle. This place looks gorgeous with the fresh snow on the ground, however it is too cold to be outside for long time but we manage to get a good look and a few pictures.
After lunch we went back to Higashi-chayagai, also known as Higashi Geisha District, to visit Shima, a former geisha house from 1820’s. This place displays the layout of a traditional geisha house and the instruments they use to entertain the clients, it also has a beautiful collection of personal items used by geishas.
Late in the afternoon we took the local train towards Kyoto. There are a few places we have not visited that we want to see. We arrived in the evening to the smallest apartment we have seen, however very comfortable and clean.
