Friday Onwards to our hotel

 We are now in Nagano province, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, on the way to the small city of Matsumoto. This is the area of the Northern Alps and we can soon see the snow capped mountains in the distance. Hero explains that the pure mountain water is good for brewing sake and growing rice, the soil looks extremely fine and each little garden that we pass has neatly marked out beds ready for this months crops.

Our hotel in Matsumoto tonight is a more traditional style and although our bedroom is smaller than last night's, it still has the neatly arranged  set of bathroom amenities and Japanese style pyjamas which I manage to persuade Trevor to model for the photo!

We are bothe feeling quite tired from the days activities and time spent travelling, so make a decision to go out for dinner quite quickly., Our tour guides have been very good at researching  restaurants within walking distance of the hotel and checking reviews, so following their advice, we opt for an Italian tonight. Yes, I know we are in Japan, but we both fancy pizza!

Venturing out into the narrow streets around our hotel, we are both struck by the lack of traffic or  much noise, everywhere feels very calm and safe. We don't have far to walk before we spot the restaurant, but are a little surprised when we venture inside, as it is really tiny!

Hopefully you can enlarge the photo to see the huge pizza oven in the corner, we are sat on the opposite side where there are just 4 tables for  2! It's reassuring though to see some certificates from various parts of Italy on the wall, confirming the chef's prowess in pizza making. The only other member of staff is a Japanese girl who comes to our table and with a mixture of pointing and hand gestures, shows us how to use the  iPad on the table to order our meal. She is very sweet and in her few words of English explains that we are very welcome; when I reply that she has made us feel so very welcome, she beams with pleasure. Fortunately, she has already set the menu to the English version so once we have got the hang of the process, we can settle back, enjoy our drinks and wait for the pizzas! We immediately notice the contrast between this Japanese style Italian restaurant and equivalent establishments at home. Where we sit, all is calm, quiet and reserved; there is no noisy conversation, no shouting between the chef and waitress ( in fact I don't see them speaking to each other at all!) and no hustle and bustle to get the pizzas out as quickly as possible. In fact, I have time to drink a whole glass of wine between ordering and the pizzas arriving!

When our pizzas finally arrive, rhe second glass of wine that I ordered via the iPad also arrives and in a conspiratorial whisper and more gestures our waitress tells me that she has given me a little bit more wine than she should have done. Now that would never have happened at home!

The pizzas are very good and unusually for me I eat the whole lot, as the outer edges, even without any topping are delicious and perfectly cooked ( even as good as Rudi's in Manchester Simon!) A tasty Italian ice cream for dessert rounds off the meal perfectly. The walk back through the quiet streets only takes a few minutes and we are happy to settle into our beds ready for a good night's sleep ( I even wear the Japanese style pyjamas!)