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1/3/2006, Linn trip: riding bicycles in Aioi, Himeji castle, okonomiyaki

The plan for the day was to do some sightseeing in and around Aioi. That's pretty much what we did.

We started the day with a healthy breakfast: bread, Japanese sweets (dango), and milk.

Riding bicycles around Aioi

We rented bikes at the shop in front of Aioi Station. ¥500 (≈$5) for the day. They were in surprisingly good condition for rental bikes.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

Just a vending machine that struck Linn's fancy.

Quick meals for sale at a convenience store.

Aioi's harbor, as seen from the road.

An ordinary street in Aioi.

Aioi's harbor.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

Riding around Aioi with Linn. That's me, fighting an uphill battle.

At one point, we saw a small side street that looked interesting. A local man stopped us and asked us where we were going. It was like, "If you're coming up here, you MUST be lost." We assured him we weren't lost and that we were just exploring the neighborhood. Nice guy. I guess he owns a bunch of stuff in Aioi, a trucking company and such. Linn was too shy to ask, so he took this picture candidly.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

Eventually, we found a little trail that led us to the top of a big hill There was a nice view of Aioi and beyond from up there.

View of Aioi from the top of the hill.

Goofing around on top of the hill.

View of Aioi from the top of the hill.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

Riding around Aioi with Linn. That is, of course, Linn.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

After a while, we stopped at my favorite coffee shop in Japan. It's called Kuri-No-Ki. Good, in-house-roasted coffee.

Riding around Aioi with Linn.

A visit to Himeji Castle

I've been to Himeji Castle many times before. I could probably become a tour guide with a little practice and study of history. But, I enjoy going every time. It's fun and it's the most famous thing around Aioi.

Looking down the roofline with Himeji (city) in the background.

Himeji (city).

Himeji (city). Himeji is home to about 500K people, but it seems quite a bit smaller than Seattle, which has about the same population, not counting the suburbs.

Inside the castle. I think he took this for his girlfriend, an architecture student.

Inside the castle.

An interesting ornament that apparently covers a nail, or something like that.

Inside the castle.

At the top of the castle, there's something like a mini-temple. Before praying, people throw money into this thing.

Linn in front of the castle.

Me in front of the castle.

Actually, we took too many pictures of the castle, but I liked this the best. Believe it or not, there were a lot of pictures that I didn't post here.

Linn and I have big egos, so we thought we'd see which one of us could hold up the entire castle.

Turns out we both did an equally good job of supporting the castles massive weight.

I guess this is a gun hole. This is in the castle's outer wall.

A gate at the castle.

Since we arrived in the afternoon, we were there until closing. The security people have a way of escorting you out without saying a word. They just stand right behind you and make sure you only move forward.