Colours

A stunning day for vagabonding!

7am breakfast at Tanuki, packed, dumped ski bag for pick up, and out for a morning walk before the bus to Iiyama leaves at 9:30am on the dot. Blue sky, white blanketed rice fields rising up through village and pine forest to the mountain ranges beyond.

About an hour and a half to Kanazawa, Di opens a chocolate Tortina to have with coffee and it rolls across the corridor and down three rows of seats.

First five minutes in Kanazawa and we’ve done our dough putting it in the coin locker and opening the door when we should’ve opened the door and put our money in! Figure it out eventually and take-off less burdened, by bags and money, to Kenrokuen Gardens.

In less then fifteen minutes March (in the wrong direction as it turns out), ‘Yuki’, sees us studying a map with furrowed brow and asks, “can I help, where do you want to go?”, “Ah, the gardens, I walk that way to work everyday, come!”.

Yuki bolts off at break-neck speed, providing continuous scenic-city voice-over while we break into a half jog shedding jackets, jumpers and dignity just to keep up; on street, down to underground, up on street, back down to underground, through the produce market, live crabs, fish, squid, fresh vegetables, meat, cafes…sprint across the castle lawn, through the castle gates and up to the gardens. We thank Yuki, an international exchange student coordinator, profusely and watch her jog off back the way we’d come! Extraordinary!

Kenrokuen Gardens are a feast for the monotone beleaguered eyes of winter, the dark green of yew and pine, soft limes of moss and lichens, whites, buttercups and crimsons of the first blossoms of spring and babbling rivulets coursing beneath arches of stone.

It’s a thing, apparently, for the twenty somethings to hire traditional garb and promenade about the gardens. The men in fine coats and the ladies in splendid kimonos vibrant with the colours of the coming season and the passions of their youth (Iris Apfel might disagree).

Paused for a snack by the lake to take it all in and then powered back to the station. Quick traditional Japanese large fries at Maccas then two hours Thunerbirding to Kyoto, an hour and a half Shinkanzening to Hiroshima, twenty five minutes tramming to our overnight backpackers and five minutes walk to a gorgeous little Japanese and pizza-bar all-nighter.

Actually the Shinkanzen leg around the edge of lake Biwa was really beautiful; Japanese villages overlooking fishing nets and poles and the vast blue of the lake reaching out to the foot of the snow colored peaks – tinged with sun’s twilight gold.

Grabbed a plate of smoked fish, egg and mustard, grilled pork and cheese at this quirky little place across from Dobashi (M13) tram station and called it a night.