Travel Blog 30

             Today was an interesting day, despite being uneventful and also filled with fun. I woke up this morning, after sleeping in as the day is a free day. Upon waking up, I see my text of the people I was making plans with for after the program ends, and decided to move my flight back again. After moving my flight back, I went ahead and called my parents, because we needed to discuss about senior year anyway and my plans.

            After this, I went ahead and text my friends about what we were doing today, and if ready to leave. We left the hotel at around 10:30, to go back to Osaka. To leave the hotel, we split up into two taxis, as to avoid the bus confusion from the previous day. The Taxis in Japan are incredibly nice for a cab. Usually a black comfortable car, or in this case a white one. They are also very Japanese styled with the mirrors on the hood instead of near the windows. 

            Next, we unload our stuff at the train station, and made our way to the thunderbird. The thunderbird is a fast and comfortable train in Japan, but not nearly as fast as the Shinkansen. On this train we decided to make a new plan. We would go to Kyoto and do something there. In Kyoto, we intended on seeing Kinkakuji, but first, ate a good lunch at a Tonkatsu restaurant. After that, we went off on our way to Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji is also known as the golden palace, where I intended to buy some stuff and see it again. However, our plans changed when the train went in the wrong direction and Kinkakuji closed at 5. But to stick with the plan, we got off at the stop, and attempted to see some castle ruins in the town. To get there, we walked down a rural neighborhood street winding through the neighborhood. Unfortunately upon arriving, it was also closed too though, so we then proceeded back to the station to go to Osaka. 

            At the station, we decided to take the Shinkansen back, so we waited a few minutes for the Hikari as we can’t take the Nazomi. The train back was fast, around 10 minutes, and by that point of the days travels

everyone was tired. So back at the hotel we rested, and regrouped at 7:30 to eat. After regrouping, we walked to an Okonomiyaki place. This is my favorite one, right next to the hotel, but unfortunately they were full, so we had to eat somewhere else. The next place I tried however, was also full too, so we then proceeded to Sushi-Ro, a common eating spot. This was probably one of our last big meals together, so I got a lot to eat there. 

            In conclusion, today was interesting, with every plan we made going out the window, we made the best of it. I learned a lot of skills, from patience to making the best out of the given situation. All in all it was fun despite everything, because if I think about it, I could have been doing something more boring in the US instead, but I decided to come here.