Ooooooosaka and the start of Hakone

PARENTS PARENTS PARENTS TRAVEL TRAVEL PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!
Sunday, March 26th, my mother and my aunt arrived at the Kansai International Airport in Ooooosaka JAPAN! Since their arrival, we've adventured and traveled all around the Kansai and Kanto regions of Japan. We've traveled through the inaka (country) and through the bustling district of Shinjuku, Tokyo, seen the See no Evil Hear no Evil Monkeys at the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, traveled in a pirate ship at the foot of Mt. Fuji (obscured in clouds), eaten the black eggs of Oowakudani sulfur springs, and lastly, we've spent more time communally naked than is imaginable. All this in one week! Lastly, we trekked out to Kyoto but by this time I think everyone was on serious shrine overload.

Days 1 and 2.
Sunday and Monday in Osaka, later Hakone.

The adventures began in Osaka. After an afternoon of hanging out with Lexi, cruising the covered shopping arcade, sipping beer at the Kirin brewery and tasting restaurant, and general people watching, I picked my parents up at the Kansai international airport. They were pretty wiped out from the 14 hour flight, so we checked into the hotel and turned in early.
In the morning, we made a short trip to the UMEDA SKY GARDEN, which is a marvel in space-techy architecture. The building attracts lots of tourists to take a glass elevator up to the almost top floor, then ride an escalator encased in glass to the top. The roof is open to walk around and gives a pretty amazing view of Osaka (which I'm not showing here!)

That afternoon, we packed up our bags and caught the Shinkansen up to Hakone, which is a region up in the mountains famous as a day trip out of Tokyo for Onsen-ing (hot spring public baths) and hiking. My Momsy made all our travel plans last December, which was before the accident. About four years ago, my mom had her knee replaced and she was doing pretty well until January. While out throwing toys for the dog she slipped and tore up all the connections she had worked so hard to strengthen. At first, she was unsure whether or not she would even be able to make it to Japan, but thankfully she did! However, my Mom's not one for big cities so we spent a lot of time in the countryside, which unfortunately, we couldn't hike very well. After getting off the Shinkansen, we transferred to a small, two-car, cute little train that ran us through a series of switchbacks and tunnels through forests and up the mountains. It was beautifully scenic. I felt like I was in a cross between "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Donkey Kong" (where you ride around in those little carts).

We got off the train at Miyanoshita, which is a small tourist resort town, and made our way down the steeeeep road to our hotel, the historic (famous?) Fujiya. Hauling our luggage up to the hotel later became my mother's favorite memory of Japan. After struggling all day with bags, the last hill to our hotel seemed pretty overwhelming to my tired relatives. That is, until the two porters spotted us, sprinted down the hill and whisked our luggage away. It was in the lobby and on a cart before my mother could take another step. (Note to anyone visiting Japan- don't over pack! There is no where on trains to stow bags. In fact, you would travel best with only a small daypack. I would recommend packing nothing, but your traveling partners might complain after a few days). The hotel was very large, and old. On the way to the room our baggage handler proudly informed me that John Lennon had stayed there for three months. The royalty of Sweden, Korea, Japan, and a handful of other countries had also put in some time at the Fujiya.

We got in around dinner time, so we put on our shoes and hit the streets to find somewhere to eat. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We passed dozens of little street restaurants that had all closed up by 6:00 and an Italian restaurant. Since we didn't feel quite like spaghetti, we headed back to the hotel's grill and were woefully underdressed for their fancy French grill and restaurant. French? Yes. French and Expensive. So we had the cheapest thing on the menu, a salad, squash soup, and curry. I would say the soup was excellent, the curry so-so. (Japanese curry in a French restaurant in Japan should not exist).

The next day we visited the Hakone Open Air Museum, which was my favorite part of the trip (maybe), but that will have to wait. I'm off to Hanami, or Cherry Blossom Viewing, in the park with my school and cannot stay and write more.