Phil and Trev's Japanese adventure

 If you've taken any notice of the title to this post, you may be wondering what it is all about, well I will keep you in suspense for a little longer! First a few thoughts about Japanese bathrooms beginning with the toilets ( you probably were not expecting that!) Japanese toilets are the gold standard in this department, even in motorway service stations they all have the same complicated range of functions - beginning with heated seats! A bit of a shock the first time, when you are not expecting it, but they quickly become a bit like heated steering wheels, you wonder how you managed without one before! Every toilet has this range of buttons by the side of it, often in slightly different configurations, so I always needed my glasses on! There are buttons for providing a jet of water to different parts of one's anatomy, a deodorising button and in some cases even a button to play a little song while you use the facilities! Once you have mastered all of this, you then have the...

  Those of you who know us well will appreciate that Trev and I may have differing feelings faced with this sign.Trev, along with the vast majority of men on the trip, is looking forward to it very much. I on the other hand can think of lots of other things I would rather be doing! It turns out to be a very interesting couple of hours, including watching an iconic English train character dubbed into Japanese which is quite funny. Not surprisingly, the exhibition begins with the story of the bullet train, which we are surprised to learn came into service in 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The first trains were not quite as streamlined as the one we went on and I can see why they were nicknamed 'ducks' Trev is very excited to be able to sit in the drivers cab! I quite like this characterful train from the 1950's and am quite surprised to see that there is a Thomas the Tank Engine exhibition, which I go round and watch the to series for a bit, dubbed into Japanese! We...

 Our trip has been jam packed with visits for the time we have been here, so it's good that we have a few hours of free time this afternoon to browse the neighbourhood around the hotel.The  first stop is close to our hotel, where like many of the Japanese stations we have travelled through, there is a huge shopping mall, full of a range of retail outlets from little coffee shops to huge department stores. There are lots of well dressed people shopping and the shops themselves are of a high quality; the big department store we go into reminds me of Fenwicks in Leicester or Selfridges in Birmingham. It actually has 2 basement floors dedicated to all sorts of food items - fresh, cooked, store cupboard staples - you name it, you could probably buy it here! We have been impressed by the quality of the the food we have eaten on the trip, whether in hotels or restaurants, or bought on the move; the fruit in particular has been fantastic and we have learnt a little about the Japanese ...

 Our hotel, showing the revolving restaurant on the top. The last couple of days have meant quite a bit of time on the coach, so we're glad to be back at the hotel in time to get ourselves sorted for the last couple of days. Our Australian friends have recommended a good Italian restaurant just over the road from the hotel which we decide to visit for an early dinner. We discover that it's tiny and up 2 flights of extremely steep stairs ( rather like those in your house in Sheffield Simon and Laura!) Inside, it's very attractive with a mix of Italian and Japanese decor Trev is quite surprised when his pizza arrives! It actually has snapdragon flower on and is really deep! The whole thing is excellent though and I pinch more than one piece of the perfectly baked crust to go with my spaghetti! A little photo for William and Poppy - These cat ornaments are a rest for the knives and forks! We only have a short walk back to the hotel, but the weather has changed for the worse si...

 Trev's ideal hotel bedroom! Before starting todays story, I thought I should post a couple of pictures of the view from our hotel bedroom in Kyoto - maybe not the most scenic, but if you are a train enthusiast, like Trevor, it's the perfect location! Hopefully you can see a white shape going across the picture from the left side, that's actually a bullet train - if you are able to zoom in, even better. We are amazed just how many come and go in a short space of time, as well as more local trains on another line. Fortunately, it's not noisy at all, as they are all electric. Today we travel by coach to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan, but not before we have a visit  to a sake factory at 10.00.We all appreciate that as one of the 'tourist' visits, the main aim of the tour here will be to encourage us to buy some sake, but it proves to be an interesting and enjoyable hour. During the tour, we learn that sake is made from fermented rice grains, it is a complicate...