ōsaka : part one.

Despite being so horrendously behind, I am going to attempt to keep things chronological, or I will most likely never return to explain anything. Therefore, we will begin with Ōsaka! I had been looking forward to this trip for weeks and weeks – not only was it my first time venturing out of Gifu or Nagoya, but I was also going to meet two of my favourite people. I only arrived on Friday evening, but after much shrieking, hugging and jumping, we managed to get out to see a little of the town.

We started going out by going for a wander, but were so enthralled by the sight of the Umeda Sky Building we couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

As the light left the sky we zipped up in glass elevators and through fluorescent passages, until we reached the top.

The view was stunning. Viewing the city from a height, with all the lights, and the Yodo River running through, it somehow felt very Parisian (probably helped along by the romantic nature of the observatory).

 

As it got darker, the lights from the city became more vibrant, although I was a little too distracted by the party going on with my outfit. 

We were all a little tired from travelling so called a fairly early night. The next day the weather looked intimidating, but we headed out enthusiastically for Ōsaka-jō. We just managed to beat the rain.

In the afternoon, we split for a little, with Georgie wanting to experience an onsen, and Natalie choosing to give it a miss. After, we met again to head into Namba for some shopping, but, with soaking clothes and tired feet, eventually finding refuge in a little coffee shop. I am very sad to say that the coffee I braved was the worst six dollar coffee I have ever purchased, but fortunately the company made up for the coffee’s failings.

I will save the evening’s shenanigans for Ōsaka : part two, the release of which can be expected in the next day or two!

gujo.

As aforementioned, on the weekend I went to Gujo! I went with a strange mix of Japanese, Chinese, American, French, and German people. Heading to Gujo was incredible; I was so stunned by the scenery we drove through. I know that this will reveal my absolute ignorance of Japan, but I had no idea that there were areas that beautiful here, I felt as though I were in the middle of New Zealand or maybe Europe somewhere. The whole car trip, every corner we turned I would exclaim “Oh my goodness! Its beautiful!” In any case, I feel as though the photos below do not do the beauty of Gujo justice, it was impossible for me to capture its vastness on film. I won’t write a lot about Saturday since the pictures explain most things anyway.

On Sunday morning we rose early to climb a mountain. It certainly made me realise that if I wish to climb Mount Fuji whist here I am going to have to do some more training, if I were to attempt it tomorrow I think I would suffer heart failure.

There is an excellent feeling to bagging a mountain (if you can call my leisurely wander up a hill that). Since there were so many trees, the view from the top was still a little obstructed, but the overwhelming impression was of tree-covered mountains. Everywhere.

We slipped and slid down to the bottom of the mountain where we had a lot of fun playing around near a stream until the first leech was spotted and we all decided it was a good time to run home.

The rest of the day was spent wandering in the town of Gujo. Henry was desperate to jump off the bridge, and whilst that would usually be right up my alley, I was feeling unusually sensible and gave it a pass so poor Henry was on his own.

On the way back we stopped at an onsen, which was my first time. Although I think I managed not to look like an absolute moron, I was still told by my friends I must have done it all wrong since I ended up feeling exhilarated rather than lethargic. After, I headed back to Gifu with the cool cats.

It was such a nice weekend, I feel so indebted to the people who organised all of it and were so kind to me. Without them I never would have had access to those areas or experiences. Thank you!