We had the option of Kyoto, Kobe or Nara today and chose Kobe because it was showing the coolest weather forecast.
You may know that in 1995, Kobe and the surrounding region had a disastrous earthquake that killed 6434 people. The earthquake also triggered about 300 fires which raged over the city. There were disruptions to water, electricity and gas supplies. Residents were scared to come
home because of the aftershocks which lasted several days.
What I remember most was the damage to the highways and subways. Those pictures were just unbelievable! Every time we come to Kobe and walk underneath those highways I think about the poor people who were caught in it and lost their lives. How terrifying it would have been.
I love the beautiful mountains on the right side of the train as it comes in. Hills on one side, water on the other.
We walked through the centre a bit before heading over to the water to get on a cruise.
Saw this sign as we were walking and it made me chuckle. Bit aggressive isn't it?
Check out this about the marathon in Japan! Interesting and a pretty cool monument.
The park is so peaceful. I took a few photos.
We found a place with mist for some relief against the heat but it didn't do much.
And then Deno found cooling seats!! and they really were! You lift the lid, sit down and press the button and whammo.... ice cold butt.
His butt may have been cool but it was still hot so we had to get out of the sun!
Here's a couple pics we took on the way to the cruise.
You can't see it properly but that's a giant fish.
Then look what I saw!
And I had to have a play! Deno took a little vid while I was playing. There actually was a sign there saying anyone could play as long as you didn't hog the spot or play rough.
The best thing about being on the cruise was the air-conditioning, the lemon drink we had and being able to sit and relax for a while. We didn't really see a lot more than we could have seen from the shore but it was still nice and I'm still glad we did it.
Here's a few pics I took on the boat and of the surrounding land.
We tend to stick to places we've been before when we're in Japan although we're really trying to be different this time. Still, we found ourselves stumbling into Mosaic Mall and going up to the all you can eat restaurant we go to every time. THIS time, it wasn't there. In it's place was another restaurant which looked pretty good but I still didn't quite understand what or how we were ordering.
I did speak a bit of Japanese in there though and was glad I understand that the egg the waiter put in front of us was a raw egg.
I also asked him how old the restaurant was and he said it's been there 3 or 4 years which sounds right. Last time we were there was almost four and a half years ago. We cooked the meat and veggies we chose ourselves. I don't really see the point of that but people like it.
I wanted to walk up the hills. There's a waterfall there somewhere but Deno wasn't having it so we got back on the train to Osaka. We walked over to the Umeda Sky Building.
There seemed to be more people than ever here today. The host squashed us into the lift and up we went. It's a glass elevator which seems like a good idea, but becomes a little terrifying. The Japanese kid behind me was making quite strange noises right from the start. After you leave the lift, you have to go up and escalater that goes BETWEEN the two towers of the building. I mean... you just can't think about the possibilities! When we got to the top I took a few photos then we were out. I'm pretty sure we had the quickest visit today! Here's a few pics....
I also took a video of the elevator going down.
So it's been a day! I'll share photos of tonight tomorrow! Another gorgeous day in Japan. Thanks for reading
OYASUMINASAI
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