This was yesterday morning. We bought some rolls and oranges and ate it in the J-Hoppers hostel kitchen where we stayed the night. This was Auntie's first hostel (she usually does rather comfortable tours), but she got used to the do-it-yourself experience.
After breakfast, the sisters checked out the plans for the day.
The wheelchair is pretty handy to carry all our HEAVY backpacks.
We stood in line to board the comfortable and warm bus for our ride to Shirakawago that is located deep in the mountains.
This was a World Heritage Site that Art had wanted to go to. We hoped that it would be warm and that the cold weather would be done with since mom does NOT like the cold.
Mom and I used the Hokaron patch that we attached to our clothes to keep us warm. It was great!
Here we are going under the torii to enter Shirakawago village.
We stayed at the super convenient Koemon minshuku (bed, dinner and breakfast house). It was a bit expensive but when you considered the dinner and breakfast that was included, it was very reasonable.
Our hostess explained what we could do in the village and gave us tips on the great places to eat lunch.
This minushuku is very old. I loved seeing the shoji doors made of thin wood and paper.
This time although we were all the same room, this connecting door could be closed to separate my mom and aunt from us. However, the doors are not sound proof and we could hear everything they were saying.
"OK, now what shall we do?"
"How about lunch? The minshuku hostess said to go to Nomura's place because they only serve 100 soba (buckwheat) for the day."
We saw that they had a huge mound of snow piled up. We were glad the snows were over. Mom was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with snow.
We stopped at the Nomura restaurant where our hostess had recommended.
To her delight, Auntie discovered that they sold doburoku (rice wine). She said that their mother used to make it. It's a weaker sake but I couldn't quite get used to it. Doburoku is supposed to be the sake before it's been distilled and is milky and lumpy.
The soba was delicious!
We visited a gassho museum and learned a lot about how gassho houses were made.
Auntie loved seeing the old farm tools that were used.
Can you see the ropes on the ceiling that tie the thatch to the roof?
Auntie loved seeing the display that showed how doburoku is made.
This is the container they use to make the alcoholic beverage.
They said the thatch is 3 meters thick.
This is the outside of the gassho museum. Gassho means hands in prayer. The houses are named gassho houses because the shape is like hands in prayer.
At last! Here's a flower I recognize! Crocuses.
I must tell you that I'm using the hostel computer and it's driving me crazy. I was working on my laptop and it suddenly stopped working and I had to switch to the hostel computer. I don't know where the heck the apostrophe is. Arrrghhh! The space bar is different and a lot of the keys are in different places. I can't bring myself to ask the desk for help again. They have been so kind to me and I don't want to take advantage of them when they are so busy.
Here we are at a store.
We had to try some of these mitarashi dango (broiled mochi). It was not bad... but not great either. I'd ask my mom what they are but she's on the 3rd floor and there's no elevator here.
We left my mom at the minshuku to rest her aching leg and took Auntie on a shuttle to the top of the hill where there was a lookout. Thank goodness mom's leg is gradually getting a little better.
We saw a shrine there. We all offered a prayer for my uncle who we learned was in the hospital with pneumonia. This is the uncle of another of my mother's sisters in Hawaii.
The view was truly spectacular!
I'd written a more comprehensive post which was all gone when I opened up my post on this hostel computer. Fruuuuustrating. This is the plant that my aunt said we ate as tempura with my uncle and aunt in Tokyo.
Later: My aunt just told me that this edible plant is a fukinotou.
We saw this elegant bird in the tree.
Later: The bird is a shira sagi.
We saw a community of men working on repairing a thatch roof.
It did look like a ton of work.
Auntie saw a store that was selling doburoku and happily decided to buy some.
She asked the fellow to put it in paper cups so she could drink it with her sister.
My mom was thrilled!
This is a rooka. Many old Japanese homes had their hallways on the perimeter of the house instead of in the center like Western homes.
Dinner was spectacular. There were so many different kinds of dishes to try. Auntie said she wanted some sake and mom seconded the motion.
We ate every single bite of food and drank every drop of sake.
My mom and aunt were not phased a bit by the drink. Art on the other hand went right to sleep at 8:30.... and proceeded to snore LOUDLY!
At first I could hear the two sisters trying desperately to stifle their mirth. And then it just couldn't be held back and they started laughing uproariously. Art never woke.
I was going to post about our day but I'm afraid I just can't. This computer is absolutely driving me nuts. Good night everybody.
Postscript (March 30th): We just turned on our computer this morning to discover that the computer is working. It was the hostel system that was down. Arrrgghhh..
However, it's nice to know we're up and running again. We're waiting now to catch the train to Kanazawa. I'm going to go back and add some corrections to this post.
