Kanazawa to Nagoya with a Stop in Hikone

This morning we woke up and checked out of the hotel early with the intention of stopping for a few hours in a city on the way to Nagoya.  We asked a woman in the train ticket office how to get to Nagoya.  She told us to take a limited express train from Kanazawa to Maibara and then the shinkansen from Maibara to Nagoya.

We didn't have any plans for where we would spend the day, so while Greg slept on the train, I pulled out the Lonely Planet Japan and scoured the maps and information to find an appropriate city to spend a few hours in.

I finally decided that we would go to Hikone.  Hikone was only one stop away from Maibara, where we were required to change trains anyway.  The guidebook suggested Hikone Castle as an alternate to Himeji Castle, which was, as we discovered, under construction and not visible.

Hikone Castle is one of the most preserved castles in Japan.  Some castles were ruined by fire, many were dismantled during the Meiji era, and others were destroyed during World War II.  Few castles have survived.

Hikone-jo Castle.

Because much of the castle is original, Hikone-jo is our favorite castle.  Castles rebuilt as museums (like the Osaka Castle) are less interesting.

Hikone Castle

We explored the stable first, where we fed some hay to a pretend horse.  We then walked over the moat and  proceeded to walk up the hill towards the castle.

Me feeding the "horse" in the stable.

The view next to the castle from the top of the hill was amazing!  We could see Lake Biwa and in the distance some snow-covered mountains.

Lake Biwa with mountains in the distance.

We entered the castle.  The stairs were the most memorable part of the castle itself.  The stairs were very steep and a little scary to climb, even with a handrail.

Steep castle steps.  

This castle was not used as a museum.  In fact, the castle was mostly empty.  The construction and architecture of the castle were more on display than any other feature.

Greg reading about the castle.

After we finished seeing the inside of the castle, we consulted the map.  From the castle, we walked to the old town where we went into a couple of little shops.

Old town Hikone.

Old town Hikone.

It was about 2pm, so I called Yuri, a friend I met several years ago in Belgium, and we agreed to meet later in the evening for dinner.

Greg and I walked back to the train station where we took a train back to Maibara, and then the shinkansen to Nagoya.

We finally arrived at Tsuchiya Hotel to check in.  The hotel seemed nice, but we weren't actually staying at the hotel.  We were staying next door at Business Inn Tsuchiya (owned by Tsuchiya Hotel).  I had spent an awful lot of time trying to find a hotel in Nagoya, but for whatever reason, nothing nice was available.  I literally combed all of the hotel and travel websites and found availability at only 3 establishments, two of which were far from the train station.

So we ended up staying at Business Inn Tsuchiya in a smoky smelling room with cigarette burns in the carpet. Worse than the smell was the bathroom situation.  All the toilets were Japanese style (AKA hole in the ground) and the only women's restroom was upstairs on the 4th floor.  This "inn" was definitely meant for late businessmen who missed their last train.  Nobody else would want to stay there!

We met up with my friend Yuri around 7 at our "hotel" and walked with her to a more traditional Japanese restaurant establishment.  Even I was able to eat the food!  Greg and I both tried several dishes we would not have had the opportunity to try otherwise.

Amazingly, Yuri already had everything planned for tomorrow.  Even more amazingly, she had planned to go to a place that I had really wanted to visit!

As we go to sleep in this hole of a "hotel," at least we know that tomorrow we are going to see some really awesome sites.