kanazawa

As in all my recent blogs it has been a while since James and I went to Kanazawa (mid-August) but there are some nice pictures I want to share. Kanazawa is roughly four hours away if one takes the expressway but we decided to meander our way down the seacoast and see what that route had to offer beyond the concrete walls and endless tunnels of the expressway. It was gorgeous! At times the mountains came down and buried themselves in the sea covered in brilliant green or stark black volcanic rock, and others the rice paddies crept almost to the edge of the water. Unfortunately, Japan has a habit of smearing concrete everywhere so many of the beaches were marred by strange concrete Xs that act as breakers and concrete steps that march down into the water. Along the way we saw a few beautiful shrines and many great beaches that we didn't have a chance to stop at. Apparently, sunset viewing is a popular reason to travel the "seaside line" and we stopped to partake as well. It was quite a site but the clouds covered the sun before it had a chance to kissed the water.

We stopped along the way in Toyama to hit a few golf balls. Often, when people think of Japan and golf they think of multitierred driving ranges. In my town there are actually quite a few beautiful , and expensive, country clubs but we had often driven by the driving ranges and thought when in Japan...
The 2nd floor was actually not in use but we went up there anyhow, since it was the only reason we were going. Our clubs were old and chipped and the grip of mine was sticky with who know what. The second floor was dirty and covered with cobwebs but we were determined. The ball tee was actually quite sophisticated and a little machine did everything you simply had to decided your preferred height. We had a little difficulty obtaining our balls in the first place though. We bought a card from a vending machine and after repeated tries at putting the card in the ball vending machine we had to ask for help. It turns out that James had been trying to put in a love hotel member's card rather than the ball card and the lady seemed quite amused. We went during Obon so the only open, available, and cheap hotels were love hotels!

My swing is a little rusty!Kanazawa is know as the "little Kyoto" meaning it has a lot of culture and history. Unfortunately the day we had for touring around was pretty dreary and rainy. We saw a few sites however. Kanazawa castle is no longer standing but a few of it's gates and towers remain so we had a chance to view them. To be honest, thus far my experience in Japan is if you have seen one castle you have seen them all. Don't get me wrong I love castles and all the history surrounding them but they are pretty much all the same. Himeji was definitely the best preserved but even so it was still a building with few adornments. Historically the Japanese decorated with hanging scrolls, beautifully painted screens and curtains but not much of this remains and is never set up in the castles like it would have been, end my rant on castles.

We also visited the 3rd most beautiful garden in Japan or is it the 3rd most beautiful garden in Japan when viewed in the winter? I forget among all the lists and rankings. It was beautiful though. The Japanese form of gardening is very precise and often involves certain elements such as moss, bonsai, ponds and careful placing of rocks. Because it was a holiday we got in free (yeah) but it was raining the whole time. I think this garden would be interesting viewed in all sorts of weather and all season!

We also went to a temple (where photography was not allowed) nicknamed the ninja's temple. It's history has nothing to do with ninjas but the many different secret stairways, trap doors, secret rooms and other such trickeries caused it to received it's nickname. We were exhausted after walking in the rain and didn't have a chance to visit the geisha districts in Kanazawa. I hear next to Kyoto they are the best!