Kon’nichiwa from Nagano

The night was short and not so sweet, but after another pot of Ramen I was ready for the day and done some last preparation for one part of the trip. The hostel staff was very helpful with that.

After check out I was on my way to Nagano and a short ride away from Tokyo it only took around one and half hour to get here.

The minute the train pulled into the station I let out a little squeak of enjoyment as it was SNOWING. My host had given me already heads up and I think I was prepared enough for a cold environment that expected me here.

Welcome to the host of the Winter Olympics in 1998!

Lianna, my host had to work at the time of my arrival, but she allowed me to drop off my bag at her work place and leave for a walk around the city. We spoke briefly for 5 minutes before I headed off and agreed that I pick her up again at 9pm to walk together to her apartment.

At first I headed to the recommended Asian Night Market in the city for some lunch and then continued towards the Zenkouji temple which was a beauty to explore: 

This was followed by a walk around in the area to find a  nice spot for the on going sunset, however I couldn’t really find a good one and decided it was time to warm up a little bit with a cup of coffee or two before it was time to pick up Lianna from work.

I got back on time and together we walked to the noddle house near her home to have a warming meal ( I can’t believe I forgot to take a picture of that, the coldness must have gotten to me).

Upon arrival in Liannas cute little apartment I head a quick shower and off we went to bed. Nothing beyond that is to be reported, just a nice relaxing day full of joy and holiday feeling.

Following Samurais at Matsumoto Castle

The next morning I woke up and got immediately angry that I still was not over my jetlag, this is the first time ever it takes me so long to get acclimatised to a new time zone. I really hope that after today it will turn back to normal.

 

After a quick breakfast of bread with jam and a hot chocolate prepared by my awesome host Lianna we headed together to the river, which I originally intended to see yesterday for the sunset. We walked a fair bit to get there.

I really like Nagano for its quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

Olympic Stadium

Taiyaki with custard (a pancake in fish form )

Then our ways separated as she had to work and I continued to Matsumoto, which is around 45 minutes by Train from Nagano and it is famous for the oldest castle in Japan.

I explored the city slowly and just strolled around and took in everything I saw.

 

Famous fried chicken of Matsumoto - It was awesome

From Matsumoto I planned to continue to Hukata to see the famous Wasabi farm, but I was already too late for that as the farm is closing around 5 pm. I just took too much time to walk around Matsumoto.

By the way, there for the second time now that a random guy talked to me, the first was in the Nagano city. I tried to be polite, but I really didn’t know what to say. Not that I don’t like to meet to new people, actually the opposite, but I had really nothing in common with them and not really in the mood for chit chat at this point. It was funny and awkward at the same time.

 

So instead I headed back to Nagano and enjoyed some coffee there, uploaded my last blog and picked up Lianna from work to have dinner together in a awesome Sushi Train Restaurant. I love cheap and quality sushi!

We then headed back and I started packing for the next day. We planned to get up early to see the Snow Monkeys near the Kanabayshi Onsen. As Lianna only had to work later in the afternoon we enjoyed the trip together.

And guess what! The next morning I was able again to jump out of bed and was finally over my jetlag! YAY

Surprise breakfast - I don't think the staff understood what I wanted to have, so  not sure what I had in there

The 2k walk from the bus stop was easy and just painfully beautiful. After seeing the monkeys and walking around we headed back for Nagano. 

We had some spare time to do some shopping BECAUSE I lost my iPod and needed a few other small things. So we went first to the second hand shop that had a small sony mp3 player on display, in the end I bought it and later some headphones from the 100yen shop.

After a quick coffee I said good bye to my awesome and lovely host Lianna who made the time in Nagano a great one and I really enjoyed her company.

Now I am on the train to Takayama riding towards the sunset and trying to get the mp3 player working, but I guess I need some kind of software to use it as the data are not showing correctly after syncing the music and I can’t really use the player this way. The headset is as well not working properly, only one plug outputs music. Ah well, that’s life ;)

Next time I will report from my short layover in Takayama. Happy travels!!