JAPAN Day 17

Today was a pretty mucky day. The first one we have had so far, was basically raining all day. But it was still a good 24 degrees.
We were lucky we had bought umbrellas in Yokohama on the 2nd day of being here. They came in handy today!

We needed to book our train tickets to Kyoto for tomorrow, and for the 8th when we leave on Monday Kyoto to the airport.
So we headed back down the mountain to Odowara.

 Walking in the rain to the bus stop.

Such a beautiful area we are staying in. Reminds me of home in the Dandenongs. Up in the clouds here!

 Jess crossing at the station.

 Waiting for the train. They come every 10 minutes here which is great :)

 The train up and down the mountain has one track. So it stops at every station and by passes another train, and they swap.

 Jess in the train.

 We needed a lot of coffee today, mixed with the weather we were pretty wrecked!

The little 7/11 car! So Kawaii

 We then walked to Odowara Castle. Which was originally one of the oldest castles in Japan. But it has been restored in the 70's.

 The massive castle behind Jess.

 The Map of the grounds.

 Castle goodness.

 Heading up the steps of Odowara castle.

 We paid 400 yen to see inside.

 The inside was much of a museum. They had ancient belongings back to the Edo time.

 One side looking out of the 2nd story of the castle.

 Looking out the other side. You can see how miserable today was. There are mountains there behind the clouds.

 Jess from above.

 At the top of the 4th floor of the castle.

You can walk around and see the city of Odawara.

 We then walked back to the station and had some epic lunch.

 Gotta love me some good ramen for less then 9 bucks each!

 We then went the wrong way on the train which took us to the seaside. Of course I didn't mind this. However it isn't the nicest beach!

 Jess along the rocks.

 I love the oceannnnn.

 Rocks everywhere!

 Jess and I walked back a different way to the station in the Japanese suburbs. These kitty cats were outside a little house! One even had it's own umbrella

 Love seeing the real parts of Japan. This was a little store in the middle of houses.

 Japanese streets.

 This house had some cabbage.

 Train station. Japanese girl.

 Lady walking down to her house.

We ended the day with ice cream.

 It was more then ice cream though. Of course Jess had her dose of green tea. She has at least 1 green tea ice cream a day!

The drains in Japan are all pretty artistic!

And then took the train back up the mountain to where we are staying here in Hokone.
Also we booked tickets for our trip tomorrow. So we head out pretty early, and will make it to Kyoto around noon tomorrow. Yay for more bullet trains!
And we have had to change our plans for when we leave now, which is a little frustrating for us.

The train on the 8th isn't early enough to get us to the airport in time, so we are now heading back to Tokyo on Sunday the 7th, and having a night there before we head to the airport on Monday morning.
Hopefully we can get some money back from our reservations in Kyoto, and find a place to Stay on the 7th in Tokyo without spending too much more money!

All is well though, I'm sure it will work out :)

Love from Japan,
Kath