Short but sweet KANAZAWA

We started our day in Takayama but made our way to Kanazawa by train. It was a beautiful ride through picturesque towns surrounded by mountains and rivers. The landscape was breathtaking. It made us really appreciate the fact that we can travel almost anywhere in Japan by train- it allows you to see so much more! When we got to Kanazawa, we decided we could walk to our hotel from the train station because is wasn't very far away. Unfortunately, we got turned around somehow and ended up taking a very long, very roundabout route (we might have been walking in circles) to our hotel. Regardless, we eventually made it. We were both tired, but Eric was a lot more tired because he wouldn't let me carry much of anything since I was pregnant. He was draped in all of our bags and looked like a donkey carrying a load down the Grand Canyon. Well, he didn't look like a donkey...he just reminded me of one.

View of Kanazawa from our hotel. 

Another view...

Our hotel was great, but we spent veeeery little time there as we really only had a half day to see as much of Kanazawa as was humanly possible. Kanazawa is no tiny town. It developed around a castle complex in the city center, and today, more than half a million people live there. It is famous for its pottery. The castle complex and Kenroku-en garden area turned out the pretty much the only part of Kanazawa we really had time to experience. We started our day there and stayed until the sun went down. The castle and garden date back to 1546. The castle was the residence of various people and was subsequently used as an army base through the end of World War II. It then served as the campus of Kanazawa University until 1995 when the process to turn it into a park began. The garden was even cooler than the castle and we enjoyed walking through it during the day and at dusk. It seemed to take on a whole new life with the changing position of the Sun. We walked around Kenroku-en until our feet couldn't take any more- it was so beautiful! We didn't want to miss anything!

Kanazawa Castle

View of Kanazawa from Kenroku-en garden.

 Kenroku-en garden

That's one old tree!

Tea house in  Kenroku-en garden.

We were almost as hungry as our feet were tired. We picked out a restaurant for dinner after reading reviews about popular pizza places in the city. We came across reviews for a place called The Cottage, which was described as an Irish-Italian restaurant. Again...intriguing. We walked from the park to the restaurant only to find that it was still closed for lunch and would not open for dunner until later. We had a little time to kill so we decided to explore the area around the restaurant.

As a side note, when we first arrived at the castle complex I started seeing spots and stars. This was the second time this happened to me on the trip. The first time was in Tokyo, but I was able to talk to my mom and explain that it had happened after a particularly tiring day. She assured me that I was probably fine, just tired and dehydrated. When it happened again, I got a little nervous that it had to do with my blood pressure. This prego didn't want to take any chances! I threw around the idea of trying to go to a clinic or hospital to have my blood pressure checked, but decided that instead I would try not to worry about it and I would call my doctor's office on Monday to talk it over (we were in Kanazawa on a Saturday). If we came across a drug store,  Eric decided we would buy a blood pressure monitor so I could check my pressure for peace of mind. I continued to see spots and stars throughout the day and became increasingly more nervous (nervous Nancy over here...).

Low and behold, during our walk around the restaurant's block, we came across a little drug store and we were able to buy a blood pressure monitor! What an exciting vacation purchase! I decided I would take my BP when I got back to our room that night. The drug store endeavor (along with a little help from a shopping mall across the street) allowed us to kill enough time before dinner so we made our way back to The Cottage. Our meal there was THE most memorable dining experience of our trip.

Momo & Tony

The restaurant was run by a real Irishman, who went by Tony, and his wife, Momo (a Japanese woman). They met in Ireland working at an Irish-Italian restaurant there. They had returned to Kanazawa to take care of Momo's aging mother. They both missed Ireland terribly, but enjoy running The Cottage. Like our friend in Takayama at the Mexican restaurant, they run the entire operation alone. Their advertisement strategy for The Cottage is solely word of mouth. Their menu was super simple...only a couple of options, but they made the pasta (and everything else really) in-house. Really! We saw them do it. While Tony was making our pasta sauce, he went outside to the front of the restaurant to snip herbs from the flower boxes. Momo fussed over me after finding out I was expecting. She gave me a little bigger portion (for the baby) than Eric for just about every course and made me a special lemon drink then a special cup of tea. She was one of the sweetest people we've ever met. For a long time, we were the only patrons in the restaurant and were able to visit a lot with Momo and Tony. A little while later, four other customers came in. And would you believe it? Momo remembered one of them by name FROM SEVEN YEARS AGO! She really was amazing.

In addition to having amazing personalities, they were also very good chefs. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and, again, enjoyed the element of friendliness with other patrons that comes with dining in tiny establishments. We found out from the four other diners that Kenroku-en garden was going to be lit by lanterns for the last time in a once-a-year only lantern lighting period.They strongly encouraged that we go back, even Tony and Momo chimed in about how special the experience is. Eric and I were EXHAUSTED and really contemplating going directly back to the hotel and to bed. But somehow, over my special cup of tea and Eric's tumbler of Irish whiskey...we decided to head back to  Kenroku-en. We gave Momo a hug goodbye and were on our way.

Seeing it at night and lantern-lit was truly remarkable. Once we got there, we found the energy to walk around for a couple of more hours. It was stunning. If only the pictures did it justice...

We quite literally dragged our feet back to the hotel. By the time we got back, my feet were so tired I was nearly in tears. Eric too, though he was too tough to admit it. When we got to our room, I opened up my new toy: the fancy blood pressure monitor. I had a meltdown when I (thought I) discovered that it did not come with any batteries. Eric, being the champ he is, without fuss, put his shoes back on and headed down the street to the Lawson's (convenience store). He came back with batteries (and beer) and handed them to me. I put them in the machine and went to read the directions for how to use it. As I unwrapped the directions, two batteries rolled out into my hand. I held open my palm and guiltily looked over at Eric. He just smiled and said, "that's why I love you." And that's why I love him.

I took my blood pressure and all was well. We went to sleep that night happy and dreaming of our next stop: Kyoto.

"Little Kyoto" TAKAYAMA or bust!

Picking up where I left off, we had just finished freezing our booties off in Magome, Kiso Valley and were on our way to Takayama. The trip was several hours long and involved taking a combination of buses and trains. We used our time on the train to research where we wanted to eat dinner. We didn't know it at the time, but Takayama, despite being awesome for a number of things, was the stop where we had the most memorable dining experiences (with the exception of the Irish/Italian restaurant we visited in Kanazawa, which was our next stop on our journey). We were craving something substantial after our couple days of hiking and several kaiseki style meals. We read about an American style burger joint called Center 4 Hamburgers (you can also like them on Facebook!). Center 4 Hamburgers is the only burger restaurant in the city and had a substantial number of excellent reviews. Takayama is a bit off the beaten path and there is probably a pretty slim chance that most people reading this will find their way there, but IF YOU DO...visit Center 4 Hamburgers for sure.

From our research, we knew the restaurant closed at 9:30 pm and our train was not scheduled to arrive in Takayama until 8:30 pm. We also still had to check into our hotel and make sure the bags we sent ahead from Tokyo had arrived. Luckily the hotel was right across the street from the station. We checked in, retrieved our bags (Yes! They made it!), and dropped them in our room; then, we took off running! Eric was great and had figured out the route ahead of time so we easily found it. When we arrived, we were the only two customers there. The place is run by a dude and some of his friends.  It had an American Eagle, ski-lodge, cabin-in-the-woods, rustic feel to it. We were starving so we went crazy. Eric ordered the double cheeseburger, fries, and a beer and I the cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake. Honestly, I am drooling just thinking about it. The burgers were diner style and absolutely perfect. Perfectly cooked, perfect bread, perfect fresh and crisp veggies, and the perfect amount of sauce. It was so good and so perfect (have I gotten my point across yet?) that Eric and I spent the rest of the trip trying to come up with excuses to visit the place for a second time. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we spent the rest of our time in Takayama too full to squeeze in another burger. Hands down, though, best. burger. ever.

How bad do you want this right now?

Eric and I went on and on to the guy about how much we loved the food. He was not surprised to hear it. We waddled out of there completely satisfied, stuffed, and exhausted and stumbled our way to our beds to crash for the night. 

Breakfast the next morning was a nice treat because we could choose between Japanese or Western style breakfast. We both chose Western style as we were still (are still) not accustomed to eating Japanese style breakfasts. The Western breakfast came with eggs, sausage (kind of like Vienna sausages), salad, fruit, yogurt, potatoes, a chunk of bread, juice, and coffee. It wasn't half bad!

I assume they call Takayama "Little Kyoto" because old town Kyoto looks a lot like this.  

 After breakfast, we walked around town and checked out the morning markets and old village areas. There were many stores and vendors selling local crafts and crops. We sampled some food and purchased  some sarubobo "lucky monkey baby" souvenirs. The sarubobo is a faceless doll associated with Takayama and three wishes: protection from bad things, a happy home, and easy childbirth. They are a little creepy looking since they don't have faces. According to Wikipedia, the reason that the dolls have no faces is unclear, but two theories are that they were typically made from scrap fabric and were meant to be simple dolls and that they are faceless so that the owner can imagine a face...a face to match their own current emotional state. I don't know, but the wishes sounded good to us so we went for it! We got two little Christmas ornament dolls and a colorful set of dolls for the baby's room. 

Takayama is famous for sake, lacquerware, and wood carving. There are sake breweries all around. Eric bought a sampler pack so we could try some of it because we were overwhelmed by the selection and have no idea how to choose sake. We still have a lot to learn in this area, but there could be worse lessons to learn, right? 

When the morning markets closed up shop, we hiked up into the hills of Takayama to see Hida No Sato, which is kind of like a preserved town. It was opened in 1971 for the purpose of preserving the traditional housing and lifestyle of the Hida region between 1750 and 1850. More than 30 buildings were moved from different parts of the Hida region and assembled around a lake to make it look like a real, functioning village. Many of the houses are Gassho style thatched roof houses. There are also various tools and other items on display throughout the village. My favorite part about the place was that they provided biographical information about the folks who had occupied the houses and shops. 

Hida No Sato an interesting experience and beautiful to see. We were lucky to be there in the fall because the colors of the changing leaves were truly gorgeous. It was pretty touristy too...they had a place where you could dress up in the traditional clothing of the period and pose for professional pictures in front of the lake with the village as the back drop. We passed (we were too cool for that), but now I'm not sure why...it would have been fun! 

In one area of the village there are workshops where artisans who are experts of traditional arts and crafts can be observed while they work. You can also purchase their handicrafts. Eric bought a wood carved owl from a man who was truly a genius with a chisel. He was awesome, and the owl is pretty cute, too.

By the time we finished exploring Hida, it was about 2:00 pm and we were close to starving. We walked the long way back to our hotel and got ready for a very extravagant lunch. 

We ate at a place called Cafe Le Midi, which was an upscale steakhouse where Hida Beef is served. Hida Beef is comparable to Kobe Beef; very rich and very tasty. I am not kidding when I say that these steaks could be cut with the dull side of a butter knife and did not need to be chewed. We truly indulged...even got dessert! Along with the beef we had some vegetables and a really lovely soup that tasted a lot like potato leek, but a little more...Japanese. I loved the soup and was trying to be polite by not sopping up every last drop with the delicious crusty bread on the table. Well, the waitress came over and said, "excuse me miss, it is really good if you use the bread to get the soup." This was my kind of place! Eric and I took so much time to savor our meals (a first for us...we are professional scarfers) that we stayed through the end of the lunch hour and got to see the staff sit down for a family-style meal before gearing up for the dinner shift. They were all really cool and we seemed to mutually enjoy observing each other consume our meals.

After lunch we made an attempt to keep our food comas at bay by strolling around, but this was done in vain. Instead we strolled back to our hotel and crashed...until the sun went down. 

We were not particularly hungry when dinner time rolled around. Our Hida Beef felt like it was still sitting somewhere near the tops of our stomachs. We were pretty close to talking ourselves into staying in for the night, because in addition to not being very hungry it was cold and rainy outside. However, we had heard about a Mexican restaurant called Chapala's that was run by one man alone. He was owner, chef, waiter, busser, etc...he did it all! Plus...Mexican food in Takayama...we had to see this for ourselves! We decided to walk over for some late night munchies. We are so glad we did! 

We sat right at the bar where we could watch him cook and visit with him. Because, yes, in addition to running the entire operation, the owner also spoke excellent English! He was really funny and entertaining. The food was good- apparently he had spent a little time in Mexico before coming home and opening a restaurant of his own, but the true joy of the experience was meeting him. He was an absolutely charming, vibrant, and lovely person. Many patrons came in while we were there. In fact, he eventually had to turn people away after a large (and drunk) crowd of Japanese people came in to celebrate something. It was the kind of small restaurant where by the end your meal you have chatted with everyone else in the place. It was a really fun way to end our time in Takayama.

We got to bed late, slept well, and woke up the next morning ready to hop back on the train and continue on to Kanazawa. 

PS- Yes, I am writing a PS to my blog post...

You may be thinking it's crazy that we didn't eat much Japanese food. I should explain that we didn't feel pressured on this trip to eat exclusively Japanese food because we will be living in the country for another 2+ years. We did, however, make every attempt to try local favorites and delicacies whenever we heard about them/it was possible.

That is all. 

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program...

First of all, I have vowed to myself to finish blogging about our trip around Japan, but things got just a liiiiiitle crazy after that last post and I would be remiss if I failed to talk about why...four days after my last post, Baby Bean (here on out also referred to as Bean, Peanut, Gizmo, Nugget, etc.) rocked our world! It has been a whirlwind since then, but mostly a completely wonderful whirlwind...

I spent about seven months seeing the same OB and planning to have our baby in Japan (with my mom's help) in the middle of a Misawa winter! Then came word that Eric was selected for an eight week class at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL, which overlapped my due date. We had a very short amount of time to act and by New Year's Eve, I was on a plane to the good ole USA!  Bean would be born in Alabama, not Misawa (didn't miss the Misawa winter too much on those 70 degree days in Montgomery). This huge change in itinerary was initially extremely stressful and continued to be unpredictable and ever-changing. It could have lead to an unhappy last trimester, but completely the opposite occurred. Amidst the chaos and stress, I had a happier third trimester, birth (don't get me wrong, that part was challenging like whoa!), and postpartum period than I ever thought possible. I can not say enough wonderful things about Eric's classmates, their families, and his instructors at SOS, the OB/GYN Associates of Montgomery, Baptist Medical Center East, or the Residence Inn of Montgomery.

Striped shirt picture is almost the most pregnant I got...taken on Friday night before first trip to hospital. 

The first six weeks of Eric's class were so much fun! The members of Eric's "flight" were incredible people as were their family members who had also accompanied them to Montgomery. The group felt much more like family than new acquaintances or colleagues. The love and support we received from them was invaluable and their company during the last weeks of pregnancy made the time fly. And it was time well spent. I could go on and on about these special people and I will never be able to thank them for all they did (including giving us a most generous baby gift, loaning us baby gear that we did not have, driving us *multiple times* back and forth from the hospital when d-day arrived, and surrounding us with love and tons of admiration for our new baby before and after she arrived). His instructors were great too! Staying involved and in the loop as the end of my pregnancy drew near and even as labor progressed! They all cheered us on! A bonus from our time at Maxwell was that we also got to see our friends Chris, Sarah, and Jared from Altus while we were there. Chris and Jared were also there for SOS and Sarah for a different course. Oh! And without Chris' generous gift of the use of his ride, I would not have been able to make it to all my OB appointments!

So as for the birth...

I am not going to go into all the details, but the care I received from the OB/GYN Associates of Montgomery and the nurses, techs, staff at Baptist East was second to none. I would go back to have a baby with those folks any day of the week. I was lucky to be under such amazing care. I will never forget many of those people either. The super quick version of Bean's birth story is this: I went into labor at around 4:30am on Friday, February 14th (Vaentines Day) and baby girl was born on Sunday, February 16th at 9:19am. She weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 inches long! She was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. I am going to cry just thinking about it...

Here are some amazing things about her timing:
- She arrived one week and one day before her due date, which gave Eric a whole extra week's worth of time to be with her before he had to go back to Japan for a month. (Yes, he had to go back to Japan for a month between two courses he had at Maxwell).
- She was born on a Sunday morning of a three-day holiday weekend. This meant Eric could spend more time with us and not miss too much class.
- She was born the day Eric's dad was in Atlanta for business and had already planned to make the two and half hour drive to Montgomery to take Eric and me to dinner. This meant that he arrived at the hospital just an hour or so after Bean entered the world.

My parents also left their house to drive to Montgomery as soon as they heard I had finally been admitted to the hospital (2am) and picked up my sister on the way. My whole family arrived at the hospital just hours after Baby Bean was born.

The whole thing was incredible.

Going "home" from the hospital today!

After she was born, we had to move out of our base housing accommodations and into an extended stay suite...we chose to stay at the Residence Inn and it was one of the best decisions we made. The staff was incredibly warm and accommodating and we had plenty of comfortable and CLEAN space. We had a two bedroom suite with a large living area and full kitchen. My mom, dad, sister, Eric, baby, and me all stayed there together for the first week, then my dad and sister went home. A week or so after they went home, Eric's mom joined us in the suite for a few days. She was able to be there for Eric's graduation from SOS (because he had still been going to class during all this time). The hotel gave us all the space we needed to surround our baby girl with love during her first weeks of life (my uncle and cousin from Atlanta were even able to make the trip over for a visit). We felt so lucky to have this opportunity. Had she been born in Misawa, it would have been months (over a year for some) before most of these people would have been able to squeeze her.

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Eric. This was the hardest part of the entire journey. It was terribly painful to separate at that precious time, but we kept reminding ourselves that so many other people we know (and don't know) make much larger, much more dangerous sacrifices. That mantra helped us get through.

After Eric was back in Japan, my mom and I began the long road trip home to Maryland with Bean. She did amazingly well in the car. She slept the whole time waking only when she was hungry.

Side note: she is not like this in the car anymore. She now despises car seats, but that is a whole other story.

The trip from Montgomery to Columbia took us three days, but we took our time stopping to see many friends along the way. Another crazy thing about timing: one night we stayed with my mom's good friend in Hickory, NC. My sister just happened to be visiting her boyfriend's family in a nearby town about 30 minutes away. She, Clint, and his family all came over to see us and meet Bean on the night we stopped in Hickory. What luck!

Back home in Maryland, the next month was spent enjoying a steady stream of visitors. Baby Bean met so many of our favorite people (with the exception of those who were still too far away). She was loved on and snuggled by grandmas, grandpas, great grandma, aunties, great aunties, cousins, long time family friends who are like family, all my best girl friends, and more. It was wonderful. In fact, the only thing that could have made the whole time any more wonderful would have been having Eric there to experience it too. My mom took incredible care of me and I was quickly back to feeling like my old self. I only had to worry about caring for and loving Bean.

All women should be so lucky to transition into motherhood this way.

The month flew by and on April 4th, it was time to pick up Eric at the airport. He flew into Maryland to scoop up Bean and me for the trip home to Japan. He got to share a few precious hours with family (which included getting to meet our new nephew...another crazy thing about timing!!) before having to get back on the plane for yet another long flight.

Reunited and it feels so good!

On April 6th, Bean took her first international flight (out of the womb) at exactly seven weeks old. She was such a trooper on that plane. She didn't have any problems with her ears and slept for most of our journey...and it was one. long. journey.

Since we have been back in Misawa, I have been adjusting to solo motherhood...meaning mothering her without all the love, support, and company constantly surrounding me. This has been every bit as challenging as many mothers before me warned it could (would) be. But it has also been wonderful.

She is the love of our lives and we are so glad she is here.

And I will finish the dang blogs about our Japan trip! The upside of her hating car seats so much is that I am not more behind on my blogging than that...it's not like we are racking up the adventures right now. We are only on one adventure...the newborn adventure...

Three Hergs, One Adventure.