Category: travel

2022 golden week trip to hagi, yamaguchi: part 1

hagi sculpture park

This year we went to Hagi for Golden Week. We got the Shinkansen both ways and I purposely booked our seats so that we’d be able to see Fuji-san. Unfortunately it was cloudy both ways, so we didn’t see him. It was lovely speeding along the Japanese countryside though, I never get tired of how green Japan is.

rail crossing surrounded by greenery

We enjoyed lazy days, eating ice creams, going to the beach, sipping coffee in cafes and taking long walks. They all look the same flavour, but the outer two are natsu-mikan (a citrus fruit) and the middle is from Hagi Purin. ...

kurobe alpen route bus tour

snow capped mountains with a hazy moon in a grey sky

Up bright and early -around 4:30am – we arrived at Shinjuku, ready for our bus to depart at 7am. We were off on a two-day bus tour to discover Kurobe Tateyama Alpine Route.

a doctor's office in a museum dedicated to the showa era
traditional shop
  • mitarashi dango held up
  • rice cake on a stick

First up, we stopped at Hida Takayama where we explored a museum dedicated to the Showa-era and sampled mitarashi-dango whilst basking in the traditional town streets. It was nice to see the sakura still blooming in the area – getting to see sakura is always a plus for me.

thatched roofed houses of Shirakawa-go
inside a house in the rafters in shirakawa-go
  • black sesame seed ice cream in a cone being held up
  • vanilla ice cream in a cone being held up
  • 2 sticks of dango in a chestnut-miso sauce

Then we were on our way to Shirakawa-go to see the thatched houses. The village is open for ...

new england and the hudson valley tour: day four ｜ Boston

NYC skyline with orange text, new england and the hudson valley tour

Welcome to day four of the New England and the Hudson Valley tour diary, Boston. We were staying at the Sheraton Boston Hotel which was a very nice hotel. A thing I loved about the hotel rooms in America was that they were huge! No single beds in sight – all double and king size.

Clothes to wash, laundrettes to find

We needed to wash clothes – we’d decided Boston was good because we were there a couple of nights. First we asked if they had a laundry room in the hotel – they didn’t (too posh) but they could ...

new england and the hudson valley tour: day three ｜ Hartford – Lexington – Concord – Boston

NYC skyline with orange text, new england and the hudson valley tour

Welcome to day three of the New England and the Hudson Valley tour diary. We started the day off having breakfast at the Hartford Hilton which wasn’t much better than the offerings for dinner the night before. Everything was individually packaged and the choice was lack lustre. After we’d picked at what we could find, we were back on the coach and travelling to Lexington, MA.

Minute Men and Buckman Tavern

  • Minute Man monument
  • white church on a grass field with autumn leaves

In Lexington, we went to Buckman Tavern for a tour. Set up how it would have been when Captain Parker and his militia congregated awaiting the British Redcoat troops ...

new england and the hudson valley tour: day two ｜NYC – Hartford, Connecticut

NYC skyline with orange text, new england and the hudson valley tour

tour: day two ｜NYC – Hartford, Connecticut
September – October 2019

NYC

The next day of our New England and the Hudson Valley tour, we were going from NYC to Hartford, Connecticut. We got the breakfast buffet at the hotel (part of the tour) and it was nice, but I wouldn’t pay the amount they were asking (I can’t remember but it was something like $35 each!).

At 7:30am, we were on our bus for the first time, being given a tour of the city. I love doing tours of places, so I loved this and because the traffic is ...