(Pictures to follow)
We basically had no plans for today. Entry to Matsumoto
castle gains you entry to the co-located museum, but the museum isn’t open on
Monday’s so we decided to leave that tour for the following day.
What we did put on the agenda for the day was a meal at a
nice soba restaurant, a stroll around the castle at sunset, a trip to the local
Aeon mall and collection of a pair of shoes.
Before we left Adelaide this time, I tried to reassure
myself that we wouldn’t be doing a couple of things in Japan:
1.
Trooping all over Tokyo for shoes and
2.
Trawling through electronic shops for either
laptops, tablets or phones.
The main basis of the first one was that last time we were
here, despite the fact that the shoes were significantly cheaper (especially
those like Timberland and Merrell boots) the sizing seemed to drop out about
the point where my foot size began. Given the boys have similar sized feet, I thought
we’d ruled it out. But early in our time in Matsumoto we stumbled across a shoe
store and Thomas tried on a pair of boots. Depending on your view point (fortunately
or unfortunately), they fitted. Sadly the one pair that they had in that size
had a stain on them. They rang another store and they had one pair left. We
didn’t immediately set out to get them but put that off. Today was the day that
we decided to fit it into the schedule.
We walked to the Aeon mall after a lazy start to the day (we
seem to be good at those when we’re not skiing) where we first stumbled on a
stationary section and secondly found … claw machines. We managed not to get
too caught up in that madness and kept exploring the mall. It’s a mall. There’s
not a lot to talk about other than the pet shop full of adorable puppies. Oh
and the fact that they had a section where I could get Japanese Whiskey without
paying tax! Because we have to carry it around for the rest of the trip I
settled for two bottles at this stage.
We had a late lunch and by the time that was done, realised that
we were pushing things uphill if we were to get to the castle at sunset (like
it simply wouldn’t happen). Thomas was frustrated because the shoe shop was in
the opposite direction and he thought he was going to miss out on his shoes. Tensions
were rising but we set out for the castle anyway. We didn’t make it for sunset,
but we did catch the fading light and the castle was still spectacular. It just
left us with a decision. Walk to the shoe shop that closed at 8pm prior to
dinner or try and defer it a day.
We split the party. Caroline, Thomas and I set out for the
shoe shop while Michael, Sam and Emily went back to the hotel. Navigating somewhere you’ve never been before without
everyone having access to the internet or good maps while all having different
opinions about which direction you’re supposed to be going is a good recipe for
rising tensions. We made it to the shop though and they had Thomas’ shoes so we
chalk that up as a win. The fact that we’d already walked about 17kms for the
day and that it was 3.5kms back to the hotel wasn’t so attractive to our aching
feet. So we caught our first ever taxi in Japan. The shoe store manager was
kind enough to call them. All it cost me was a pair of gloves because I wasn’t
cold enough in the cab to realise I’d left them in the store.
Sam had booked us in to a Soba restaurant so we met the
other half of the family there. Other than the fact that there was nothing on
the menu that Emily was willing to eat and only one item (other than the sake)
that Michael was willing to eat, the meal was excellent. It would have been the
perfect time for the backup cutlet*,
but alas, it hadn’t made it thus far and hasn’t yet been replaced! It was nice
to have found a local speciality restaurant and to have eaten there rather than
in a family style restaurant like we had the previous two evenings (even if
there were no gyoza).
We headed back to the hotel and picked up some food for
Emily at the supermarket next door, including a piece of cake that was apparently
delightful.
Michael’s dumpling count: 85
*The backup cutlet.
When we travelled from Nagano to Madarao, we bought lunch at
the Mi Do Ri as I noted at the time. One of the items that we bought was Pork
Cutlets. Essentially it’s a pork schnitzel that is a delightfully tasty. They
were cheaper in pairs, so we ended up with one that had no designated owner. We
saved it because at some point someone was going to be hungry. It made it all
the way to Madarao with us and Caroline arranged for the staff at the lodge put
it in their fridge for us. Each time we stopped to eat either lunch or dinner,
if someone ordered something that may not have lived up to expectations the
offer was always made … there’s always the cutlet back at the lodge if you’re
hungry. And so it became designated the
backup cutlet. Unbelievably, the cutlet survived until our day of departure
where it was eaten before it went off rather than through any actual need.
Michael’s dumpling count: 85
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