Today started out moderately early to catch the train to Hikone. It is along the Tokaido line but we had to get out at Maibara and then switch to a local line to make it there. I had us out the door about 7:50am or so for an 8:30 train out of Tokyo Station. The day seemed like it was going to be sunny and warmer out on the walk to Hamamatsucho Station but we got a quick spit of a sprinkle to tease us.
The train ride was decent but basically a repeat of the trip to Kyoto only a station shorter. We were in the very front seat of the trains and on the left side so there was no seeing Fuji unless we got up and walked around to look for it. I was fairly tired from the night before where I didn't get to bed until well after 1am but really wasn't able to sleep on the way unfortunately. Probably too much sun.
We arrived at Maibara at about 10:45 and immediately reserved our seats to return to Tokyo for the 3:54 train. Maybe a bit early but a safe time anyway. We then found the local to Hikone. This seems to go about every quarter hour and runs about 5 minutes to Hikone which is the first stop on the line. Pulling into the station you could see the castle on the hill. We immediately made our way to the tourist office and got maps. The directions were simple, up the street a couple blocks and you are there. The castle itself is not very large but the castle grounds are very extensive. Almost in line with the grounds from Himeji. The sakura was in peak in Hikone and that was a very nice suprise. Hikone is out near Kyoto on Lake Biwa. I had suspected it would be past peak but maybe a slight altitude change allowed it to be later than Kyoto. The grounds are surrounded by a moat and outer wall. The fantastic walls might have been taken away from a bit by the sakura but it was still a fairly grand site. We walked around and up to the castle opting to purchase entry only there and not to the castle museum due to expected time limits.
When we got up to the castle proper there were already a lot of people up there. There was a small gift shop between the castle and the terrace that used to be one of the turrets where I bought a magnet. After pictures of the city from the heights of the castle and as much sakura as I could take pictures of with all the people there we got in line to get inside the castle. It appears they let people in in groups that get stuck piling up at a lot of bottlenecks inside the castle. I am not sure why they did things this way. We had to get in line and wait until they let a group in. A gentleman explained a lot of something in Japanese outside the entrance which I assume was information about the castle and its construction but I cannot be sure. When we got in we of course had to take off our shoes then we got to the lower floor and walked around a couple bends till we got stuck in a huge line all over again. Waiting in this line was similar. The guy was not letting people move forward for the people already further inside. Further inside meant upstairs and these were some of the steepest castle stairs I have seen in Japan. My hats off to all the older Japanese men and women who made the climb all the way to the top floor of the tower which I believe was the fourth floor. They basically climb you up to the top then you tour your way down floor by floor until the exit. The stairs again provided bottlenecks as people had as tough a time going down as up. The castle itself is very small and only has the main tower. It is very nice and you can see it is not really reproduction though unlike Matsumoto they put a lot of modern into the works to get people up and down by way of real handrails and such. I suppose with how steep things were it was moderately necessary. Certainly the railless climbs they would have been as built would not support major tourism. I think we could have completed the castle itself in about 20 minutes if not for the crowd. As it was it probably took us 45 minutes to an hour. I am usually slow inside castles but there was really very little to see on the inside.
After exiting there was a lineup and stage for some sort of show about to happen but we waited more than 15 minutes without seeing what it was and deciding to move on. This meant walked around to the back side of the castle and the grounds there. Again there was a ton of beautiful sakura and lots of people enjoying them. After more pictures we took the steep route down and out the back exit then walked around the outside of the moat to the street vendor area. On the way we saw the boat that cruises the moat but obviously didn't try to take a ride. ROnni bought some grilled meat at one of the stalls but I wasn't into the prices of the stall food (all was 4 or 5 dollars for small amounts. One ear of corn was 5 dollars. So I didn't bother to buy anything. Still she found a moderately comfortable place to sit and eat minus the smoker who was upwind from the spot. After she finished we found another gift tent and went into that. From there we finished the circuit around the castle and back in towards the train station. Since I hadn't eaten and Ronni had I chose to be quick and get McDonalds near the station. I had a double cheeseburger and fries with a Fanta grape soda. It was basically the same as in the USA including the tons of gloppy condiments inside. After lunch we crossed over into the station and caught the local back to Maibara.
At Maibara station we had a few minutes to wait and Ronni managed to experience the shinkansen trains blasting through a station at full speed. Four passed through before our train arrived and I managed to get a video of the fourth doing it. I hope it comes out nicely. We shall see. From there we boarded and rode back to Tokyo station. I should have gotten us off at Shinagawa to save some time but I guess I was lazy about it. The ride was basically pleasant though a bit warm. I should mention with the sun and the heat in the day we shed our jackets very early and they didn't go back on for the remainder of the day. I think I nodded off for a bit of the early part of the ride then woke up and managed to point out Fuji on the other side of the train for Ronni. It was very close but again surrounded by clouds so not terribly spectacular to look at. We also so some para-flyers near Yokohama buzzing around over a river.
From Tokyo Station it was old faithful Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho where we headed straight back to the hotel. I got up to the room and opened my Asahi Strong Off and started writing this. Marina had promised we'd do something with her for our last night here so there was nothing but to get some of this done, drink beer and wait for her to call. Oh and watch more Japanese TV. So basically a few minutes after I went downstairs and got a beer out of the vending machine Marina called up to my room to state she was in the hotel. I downed my beer quickly after calling Ronni to let her know to get ready.
We met Marina and she took us to a different Izakaya down the street than we had been to before. Apparently it is a national chain but I will have to get the name from her as I did not record it before we left. There I had a selection of various things that mostly I ate along with the couple items that were orderd specifically for Ronni or Marina. I had 2 beers and a rice based shochu. We had things like octopus sashimi, salmon sashimi, shao mai, grilled pork, fried chicken and a handful of other things all of which were very tasty. Oh and a pizza. For the most part what I ordered was eaten by me. Anyway, we seemed to be in a non-smoking area so it wasn't too bad and we met some folks from Boston who were just leaving as we got in. I happened to be wearing my Savard Bruins t-shirt and they of course recognized the logo and asked if we too were from Boston.
After dinner it was already very late and we walked back to the hotel and said our good-byes to Marina for the trip. I needed to finish this and my pictures off to get to bed. Fortunately it was quick as I was still tired from the short night of sleep on Friday night.
The pictures for today can be found here.
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