hikone.

A week ago I was lucky enough to catch up with my darling friend Amy who has been travelling in Japan. It was tricky for us to find a time that was good for both of us, so we had to settle for a weekday. Since she was in Kyoto and I was in Gifu, we ended up picking a random place name somewhere in between, and ended up in Hikone. It was one of the hottest days thus far, and we were absolutely sweltering, but nonetheless decided to look around the mysterious town we had landed in. We mistakenly thought the main attraction was the shrine, so had a wander around there.

Although it was beautiful, Hikone’s main attraction is in fact its castle. Nonetheless, by this stage the allure of air-conditioning was too strong, so we made our way to lunch. The streets of Hikone were beautiful, with trees lining streets with traditional-style Japanese houses and shops.

After lunch, we believed ourselves to be feeling refreshed, but facing the humidity of the outdoors, fast ducked into another café for respite. Amy talked me into trying kakigori for the first time (Japanese shaved ice). It was a perfect treat for the climate.

We were also excited to find that from our comfortable surroundings we could glimpse Hikone castle, and agreed that was quite close enough and there was no need for us to climb the hill to see it any closer.

I really was surprised by how nice Hikone was, I wonder if you could jump off at any station in Japan and have such an experience, or if Amy and I were just lucky. Eventually, we leisurely made our way back to the station to say sad goodbyes.

Another bittersweet catch-up with a friend from home. Its always a little the same. I almost forget just how amazing my friends are, and then when I see them I am reminded, yet our time together is so short, and then I have to once again deal with being separated from them. Nonetheless, I was so grateful for a delightful afternoon with a beautiful friend.