Kanazawa – wandering around one of the Geisha districts, lots of winding back alleys, dozens of temples, and then wandering through the old Castle/Park – AMBUSH! Craft beer festival. Managed to escape with only moderate damage, and managed to watch the Japan-Ireland game in a tiny “standing bar”, with the locals very bemused by my enthusiasm. Afterwards, a couple more drinks at another tiny standing bar, where an elderly lady complete in kimono kept putting her hands all over me (first of many, I seem to be an elderly-Japanese-lady-magnet), and sneaked behind the counter to stick one of my stickers on the wall.
BeNina arrived – and we pretty much repeated most of the stuff I’d done previous day.
Osaka – saw a big castle. Watched some rugby, drank too much beer with the locals, and a day-trip to Koyasan, a rather sizable religious complex – where I bought the first of a growing collection of “charms”.
Visited Kyoto on the way out – with only enough time for Inari-san… but that was enough to acquire another “charm”.
