Since we had an early flight out in the morning, we arranged with the hotel staff to have a taxi waiting for us when we checked out. They were also nice enough to pack a boxed breakfast for us so that we could eat while we waited at the airport. We didn’t have a chance to go back to the basement kitchen buffet, but in the elevator down to the lobby there was a sign saying that they had experienced flooding the night before so we wouldn’t have been able to go there anyway. It was some serious rain the previous night!

Our taxi took us to the airport in just a few minutes, and we set up on some seats in the departures area and ate our breakfast – yogurt, sandwiches, an apple and a pear, a yogurt covered granola bar, and a big bottle of water. We were flying on Belavia airlines, the Belarusian national airline, and we checked in without a problem and passed easily through security. On the other side we waited patiently for our boarding call while sipping coffee and munching on the hotel sandwiches.

We boarded a few minutes late, and I was surprised to see that we boarded a small jet for a 25 minute flight – I was expecting another propeller craft. Across the aisle from us an older Japanese guy and his Belarusian wife were talking to each other in Japanese – Kuniko thought that the wife was probably a hostess in Japan and met the guy through work. I thought it was cool that the old guy was visiting the old country with his wife.

We happened to be sitting in the emergency exit row, so the cabin attendant came by and asked us in English to read the safety card. She asked Kuniko in English if Kuniko spoke Russian, which was a weird question, but when she said “no” it didn’t seem to matter. The flight was quick – up and down again – but they still managed a drink service and distributed little hard candies that had a sour berry flavor I couldn’t quite pin down.

We hadn’t really planned on visiting Belarus on this trip – getting a visa is usually a pain, but we had noticed that from 2017 they changed their visa policy to allow visa-on-arrival for visitors who arrive at Minsk National Airport only. If you want to visit by car or train you need to go through a lot of hoops at the Belarusian embassy, but since we were flying into the country to Minsk Airport it was a much easier process. Once we landed we walked down the ladder and boarded a bus. Unlike other airports, at Minsk we had a police escort. Then the bus took us to the arrivals terminal where we purchased insurance from a Belarusian insurer (just a couple of euros a day, payable by credit card). We confirmed that there were no other steps with a very handsome young military officer, and he said we were good to go. We waited in line for immigration, and then we were through. Our immigration officer was a pretty young woman with some kind of muscular disease. She had uncontrollable twitches in her neck and body, but despite this she did her job well. I thought that an immigration inspector would be the perfect job for somebody with that condition – everybody is on their best behavior while standing in front of an immigration inspector who can have you deported with a push of a button.

We went outside to try to catch the bus to the city center, but unfortunately we missed it by 7 minutes. Kuniko had heard the taxi drivers were notorious around here, and they aggressively tried to get us into their taxis so I guess it is true. But after dealing with the touts in Cairo and Luxor, these guys were a piece of cake. We declined their offers and went back inside to a lounge to kill time waiting for the next bus. After a beer or so we were able to catch the next bus. We bought our ticket with a credit card from a kiosk which was an easy enough process, but most Belarusians preferred to come up and haggle with the driver, negotiating this and that and getting into long discussions. Not an organized system.

It was a long ride into town, about 45 minutes, and during the ride there was a lot to see. For one, there were a lot of casino signs, which I didn’t expect. There were some actual tanks lined up outside the airport, and once we got closer to the city some soldiers were in a field doing drills. Most of what we saw were wide green pastures under clear blue sky, and forests of aspen trees. We sat directly behind the driver and while he drove he was on the phone continuously – I got the impression that he had a side business he was running from his bus driver seat.

Once we arrived at the station, it was about a fifteen minute walk to our hotel, the Hotel Minsk. It was an old hotel that was a little past its prime, but there were touches of elegance here and there. It seemed like there were a lot of Middle Eastern guests – one guy we bumped into said he was from Iraq – and the staff were not friendly at all. We got that vibe a lot from the people of Belarus, which was similar to our experiences in Russia. Not a lot of big smiles from people here.

After checking in we rode up a slightly scary elevator that barely made it to our floor, and then walked by a flat screen TV imbedded into a picture frame playing advertisements for the hotel casino, “Casino Royal”. Our room was nice enough – although the Wi-Fi was really hard to get set up. After dropping off our bag and cleaning up a little, we went back to the scary elevator to leave the hotel and look around.

While waiting for the elevator a Middle Eastern lady in a burqa came up to us and asked us something in a language we didn’t understand, pointing to her phone. We tried to tell her to go check with the front counter, but everyone was mystified in this conversation and I’m not sure anything was resolved. Strange place!

So looking at my map I thought we could do a loop around town as a quick survey, and then later the next day go and see the sights in more detail. As it turned out, Minsk was a much bigger city than I had imagined. The scale of everything was huge – streets that were eight lanes wide, sidewalks wide enough for a football team to walk shoulder to shoulder – it reminded me a lot of our visit to Moscow. Each block was really long – so we ended up walking a lot! Just like in Moscow to cross the street you have to find the underground walkways, and the walkways often had shops and bakeries underneath to do some shopping. Minsk was also much cleaner than I expected – similar to Japan. There was no litter on the streets and I don’t remember seeing any graffiti either.

What I had expected to be a quick loop turned out to be a long walk, but we were happy to stretch our legs and get some steps in. The city itself was pretty quiet, with few people walking the broad sidewalks. We stopped at the Opera House and watched a funny family yelling at each other while trying to take a perfect picture in front of the fountain. The parks in the area were extensive and beautiful – a great place to relax and unwind. There was a river running through the city, and occasionally we saw people using paddle boats shaped like cars going up and down the river. Also along the river were a lot of restaurants that looked like they were newly constructed. We tried to find one to take a little break, but a lot of them were closed. I wasn’t sure if they were closed because they were out of business, or if it was too early, or if they weren’t actually in business yet. Finally we found a place that looked open with an upstairs terrace overlooking the river. It was a restaurant that was attached to a casino, and they played Euro beat music in the background while a few guests poked at some food at their table. We got ready to try to speak Belarusian for the first time, but our waitress spoke English (a little) and she took our order for two Belarusian beers. She didn’t look happy to have to deal with us, but again, this is what you get when you travel in the former Soviet Union.

We sipped our beers and enjoyed the beautiful cool weather and nice views across the river and to the park and city beyond. It was nice just to relax – we had walked almost 15,000 steps already and it was not even dinner time yet. After a while more customers drifted by, one group was about fifteen Middle Easterners and I wondered why we were seeing so many of them in this city.

The feel we had for Minsk was that it was really just starting to open itself to foreign tourism, and it wasn’t quite ready for prime time. All the elements were there, but it was not a polished experience like you would get in other European cities. I think it was because of this, because of these rough edges, that I enjoyed my time here. We had a lot of luxuries traveling in the previous four countries, one of which is that everyone spoke English really well. Here we had to think a little more, be ready with gestures, and expect surprises. That’s what makes trips fun for us.

We made our way back towards our hotel and walked through several big Soviet-style military parade squares. We walked past huge gothic buildings standing next to buildings with Parthenon-esque pillars and finally made it to our first choice restaurant – Kuchmistr. There isn’t quite as much current information about Minsk’s restaurants available on the internet in English, so it took a lot of research to find places that might be good and at least a little traditional. On top of that my GPS offline map had only Cyrillic letters so searching for things was hit-and-miss. But our restaurant that night was really good.

Kuchmistr is on the corner of a big block surrounded by government buildings and across from a monument with a World War II tank climbing an incline. There was nice outdoor dining and we sat outside drinking cold beers and enjoyed the weather while waiting for our meal. The background music of the restaurant was strange pop/folk/heavy metal which added an element of silliness to the meal. The restaurant staff spoke pretty good English, and they had an English menu, so no problem ordering, and we were pleased with the food we had. We ordered and shared some potato pancakes topped with sautéed bacon and onions, pork dumplings baked into a bowl covered with cheese and lots of dill, and also several thin savory pancakes served with roast pork and sausage bathed in creamy gravy. It was a very “meat and potatoes” kind of meal so we were stuffed afterwards. We had room enough for a shot of horseradish vodka at the end. The staff asked if we wanted vodka with horseradish or if we wanted horseradish vodka, and slightly confused we said “the first one” and whatever it was that we got was really good. We were completely satisfied.

While we were eating we noticed a Japanese group of businesspeople wearing suits arrive by private car. There was kind of an entourage of staff as well, and later our server said in broken English that it was actually the Japanese ambassador to Belarus eating there that night. We thought it best not to interrupt his meal, but it was an interesting coincidence.

Our last stop for the night was at an underground shopping center next to our hotel. Thanks to our visit to Moscow, we could understand that anytime you see big domes of glass in a city square that means that there’s a shopping center underneath. We found our way there and discovered a supermarket that was fun to explore. My favorite thing to see was a freezer section with big open containers of different varieties of frozen dumplings and a big scoop so you can take what you need. Plenty of interesting snacks as well, and the vodka was cheaper than the soda, just like in Russia.

We bought a few things and went through the check-out line. The cashier told us the total in Belarusian, and since we had no reaction she actually rolled her eyes in a 360 degree circle and made a big sigh, and then pointed out the total on her machine. We were all smiles and laughter and passing over bills and I think maybe we pushed her over the edge into total hopelessness. In fact, I believe that we were present right at the exact moment when her job actually destroyed her soul. I had never seen an unhappier person in retail until I shopped at an underground supermarket in Belarus.

Back at the hotel we unpacked our shopping goodies and then decided to call it a day – we ended at 22,000 steps and with the size of this city we were expecting a lot more the next day.

Breakfast was also included at the Artagonist Hotel, and judging from the décor of our room and the lobby I was really looking forward to seeing what the breakfast buffet was like. We took the elevator to the basement level, and then walked through a cave-like entrance painted white and found a bar, some tables and a big buffet spread waiting for us. The staff working the counter looked bored and kept checking her smartphone, but we had fresh squeezed OJ in a carafe at every table, some excellent bacon and eggs, and plenty of other goodies. The real treasures were a charcuterie plate with homemade salami and a cheese plate with several different Lithuanian cheeses. The coffee came from a much nicer machine and we really enjoyed breakfast there. Sadly, we couldn’t come back the next day for reasons that I’ll explain later.

Outside the weather was a little cloudy, and we packed our little umbrella just in case. We spent the morning walking around the streets checking out the Old Town in more detail. The layout of the town was a long rectangle rather than a square, and our hotel was basically at the lower midpoint of the rectangle, with the Gate of Dawn at the top and the clock tower and cathedral at the bottom. We went up and down this rectangle many times, and got to know it well. Just outside of Old Town Kuniko had located a market which was worth a walk through. Unlike the other markets that we’ve visited on this trip, this one had no seafood as Vilnius is far from the ocean. They made up for that in the meat section with an impressive display, and an old woman urged me in Lithuanian to buy half a hog that she had displayed. There was a stylish bakery and even some bars (that weren’t open yet). The market had lots of local people selling goods – especially clothes, and I think tourists were not the target customers here.

From here we walked to Uzpis, the artsy counter-cultural part of town. It was actually declared (half-jokingly) as an independent republic by the residents, and they prominently display their constitution written on plaques in ten languages on a wall of the neighborhood.  At the time we were there it was pretty early, and most Uzpisians were busy sleeping. Now and then a drop or two of rain would fall, but we were generally lucky to avoid any big weather events.

Back in Old Town we walked through the Vilnius University, which reminded me vaguely of Hogwarts from Harry Potter. A big crowd of Chinese tourists were trying to get in but turned back when they saw that an admission fee was required. We paid the fee and I’m glad we did – otherwise we would have missed the impressive University Cathedral. The interior was one of the most elaborate and striking of all the cathedrals of this trip – and we ended up seeing at least twenty by the end of the journey.

By now it was getting close to opening time for the highly recommended potato dumpling restaurant, called Leiciai. The restaurant was actually a brewery, so while we waited for our potato dumplings we could try their homemade beers. We sat outside despite the threat of rain, with other customers joining us at various tables on the outdoor patio. The potato dumplings ended up taking about 50 minutes to arrive, so we went through 5 beers between us while we waited. I liked the beers generally – we even tried their cannabis beer that is infused with cannabis oil. Lots of unusual food and drink on this trip.

When the potato dumplings finally made it to our table our appetite was at a peak, so we ate them rather quickly. They were very good Рa steamy browned potato wrapper stuffed with meat, accompanied with sour cream and topped with saut̩ed bacon. Salty, creamy, and good with beer! I really liked them, but they were a bit on the heavy side.

A kind of funny situation happened while we were at this restaurant waiting for our meal. While we sipped beer I noticed that the staff walked up to the table near us and asked them not to smoke. I hadn’t noticed them smoking because smoking is pretty common in Europe, especially outside, but right above their table was a little sign that had the symbol for “no smoking”. As I was taking in the scene and noticing the sign the guilty smoker got up and followed the staff past our table, I guess to go to the smoking area. As the smoker walked past us he apologized to us for smoking (in English), and I realized that he thought that we had complained to the staff. His companions looked over at us when the smoker apologized, and suddenly we were the bad guys in this situation. It really wasn’t a big deal but it was interesting to see that it is possible to get yourself in trouble even if you don’t even open your mouth.

We headed back to the hotel and proceeded to do our halfway-point laundry. We travel light and one of the drawbacks to that is that we have to do a little laundry on our own midway through a long trip. I washed my socks and some underwear in the stylish sink, and then we hung things out to dry all over the room. It is oddly relaxing to do chores like this in the middle of a vacation – kind of a taste of home, in a way.

After a short nap we were back out to look around town. In the afternoon we noticed that there were a lot of brides and grooms walking around town getting their pictures taken. At first we noticed one or two couples, but then more and more started showing up. In each of the cathedrals that we visited that day we saw couples getting married. Outside the cathedral the wedding party was always waiting – 3-4 stylish cars, friends all dressed up and some finger food and bubbles were all prepared. I think that day we saw around 10-15 couples getting married or celebrating their marriage. Was there some kind of significance to Saturday, August 11th in Lithuania?

We made a long walk to see just one more cathedral (St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral) a little outside of the main part of town. It was getting hit hard by tour buses and we realized it was a popular destination. Inside there was (of course) a wedding going on, but also it was built in a more gothic style. There was a statue of skeleton behind us too – a little spooky! After that we walked the long way around back to Uzpis which was a bit more lively the second time around. I had heard that since they were an “independent republic” they would stamp your passports, but we couldn’t figure out where to go to have them do it. Oh well!

By now the clouds were getting a little thicker and there was a distinct humidity in the air. We started worrying more about rain and decided to head for a wine bar to wait out the weather until our dinner reservation came up. We stopped at “In Vino” near the Gate of Dawn. It looked closed from the outside, but when we came in the door the staff who had gathered around the bar talking sprang up and tried to look busy. We had a couple of glasses of wine while relaxing, and soon the staff realized we were no threat and went back to lounging and joking around. The waiters and waitresses got along really well with each other and it seemed like everyone was friendly, so it was a nice vibe in there. They played old 80’s American pop from my high school days, and outside the rain started to fall in a big way.

We waited for a break in the rain but it became apparent that it wasn’t going to come. Finally, we got out our pitifully small umbrella and decided to share it as we walked the ten minutes or so to the restaurant. Sharing the umbrella worked for a little while, but the volume of rain suddenly increased dramatically. There were streams of water in the streets rapidly becoming rivers and by the time we got to our hotel we thought it would be a good idea to change into dry clothes before reaching the restaurant.

In the lobby of our hotel a large group of people were waiting for the rain to stop, and they were still there a few minutes later when we walked back out in dry clothes. It was just a few minutes to the restaurant from there, but in that few minutes the rain changed from “very heavy” to “ridiculous”. The drain spouts on the sides of the buildings couldn’t keep up and water started spraying out the seams of the pipes like some kind of weird fountains. We walked below these fountains and hopped over floods and by the time we reached our restaurant, Mykolo 4, we were completely soaked again.

Although the torrents outside were dramatic, things inside our restaurant were calm and serene. I think a lot of people cancelled their reservations – there was just two or three other tables occupied, including a couple of surprisingly loud Japanese ladies. Kuniko tried to use her table napkins and even the candle to dry herself off, but we resigned ourselves to eating our dinner while wet. The staff didn’t seem to mind our moist appearance, and the (once again) attractive blonde staff took our order in English very gracefully.

Dinner was impressive – our salad was black quinoa with carrots of different colors (some soaked in beet juice to turn almost black?) and almond cream, we also had some beetroot soup with dumplings to warm up. The chef sent out some duck confit with apples to spread on some dark bread, and then it was on to the main courses. Kuniko had buckwheat pancakes with pickled red cabbage and the cut-off top of a camembert cheese, and I had beef stuffed with wild mushrooms and a soft-boiled quail egg with a generous slab of unsalted halloumi cheese on top. For dessert we asked for a platter of Lithuanian cheeses (we do love cheese), and they came with pickled sweet onions, fruits and nuts. We also had some good wines here by the glass – especially a Langdouc red. It was a great dinner and by the time we finished the meal the rain had slowed but not stopped.

We made a break for the hotel, but Kuniko was craving a glass of something stronger before bed. We tried a little convenience store nearby but they were packed with people and they didn’t have any small bottles. Disappointed, we went back to the hotel and took off our clothes, took a steaming hot shower, and then used the big fluffy bathrobes the rest of the night. Outside the rain was starting up again, so we ended up raiding the hotel minibar for a couple of little Jack Daniel’s bottles and also the little mini bottle of red wine.

It was a nice romantic way to end a wet and wild day in Vilnius. Tomorrow we’re off to see a completely different sort of city: Minsk, Belarus.

We woke up in the morning a bit later than usual but with no sign of hangover – and we were ready to head downstairs and eat breakfast by 7:30 am. This time there were fewer people at the breakfast buffet and we could take our time and enjoy the meal. After breakfast we went back up to the room to get ready to ship out for Lithuania.

We arranged a taxi with the hotel, and then took the long drive to Riga airport. It was pretty far outside of town, but not as far as Kansai Airport is from Kobe. We had a smooth check-in and then plenty of time to wait for our flight at the gate. We were really impressed with Riga airport – it had many stylish bars and restaurants, good shopping and plenty of seats – very comfortable. We took a couple of seats and laid out a little mini-picnic with a local sheep’s milk cheese and an apple (leftovers from the hotel picnic yesterday) and also some fruit juices that we bought from a vendor at the airport.

Eventually it was time to board the plane. We were flying with AirBaltic, on a small propeller-driven airplane carrying only about 50 people. The plane left a little late, but once we took off they were able to save some time. It was just a 50 minute flight to Vilnius, Lithuania, and despite some turbulence as we landed it was a relatively uneventful flight. Propeller flights really make you remember what flying is all about!

Vilnius airport was very small built in an art deco style. Our suitcase was sitting on the carousel waiting for us when we deplaned, and it was a short walk outside the airport and along the sidewalk to an elevator, which took us down to a train station. The train into town was pretty cool, actually. The train ran every 30-40 minutes, and it cost less than a euro per person which was much less than a taxi would cost. The train ride was only 10 minutes, and it dropped us off at the central train station. From there Kuniko guided us along the outskirts of the central city, passing a couple of (gypsy?) women having a shouting match, and through the Gates of Dawn – a religious landmark containing a lot of gold-inlaid holy relics. Once you pass through the gate into the city you can turn back and see that above the gate is a beautiful gold and blue icon of the Lady of the Dawn overlooking the street.

Now we were inside the walls and within the Old Town of Vilnius. If you’ve been keeping track you know that this was the third Old Town we’ve visited, all UNESCO World Heritage sites. So we were getting to be kind of connoisseurs in a way. This Old Town had a different feel to it – kind of like an ancient version of Beverly Hills. The shops here were more upscale, the fountains and buildings a little more dramatic, and it felt like everything was going to be more expensive. As it turned out this city was actually the least expensive of all the cities on this trip.

We didn’t spend much time gawking since we were trying to get to our hotel, and after another ten minutes or so of walking we found it. It was called the Artagonist Hotel, and it was very artistic and offbeat. The check-in lobby is in an open air room with a ceiling three stories up. On the wall behind check-in is a giant mural of the hotel mascot, The Artagonist himself, in a cheeky pose and looking cool. Our room was really nice – Kuniko said she splurged a little here – with two sinks in the bathroom, a king sized bed, a cupola with views of the main street below, a strangely prescient mural on the wall over the bed, and some candies waiting for us on the bed cover.

Since the weather was nice we decided to hike to the northeast part of the city to see the Three Crosses, which is a viewpoint and landmark in the forest above the city. The walk was past the historic cathedral square and clock tower, and then up a pathway through the forest. It was easy to follow the path using my GPS and soon we had a great view of the city. The Three Crosses were very dramatic on their own and it was nice to stand up there for a while and enjoy the view. Some schoolkids were also hanging around the area along with the tourists, and just as we were leaving a tour bus full of Japanese people pulled up and so we left right on time.

With such beautiful weather we did a little more sightseeing – the three creepy muses at the National Theater, the slightly leaning clock tower and the adjacent cathedral undergoing renovation. We took a break for a round of prosecco and a round of beer sitting outside under the trees at a small restaurant. It was a quiet moment to relax and watch the city move around us. Once again we had a very attractive waitress who spoke excellent English. We asked when they learn English in Lithuania, and she replied that it starts from the fourth year of elementary school.  When not serving us the waitress spent time talking with two older women who seemed to be regular customers.

We made a reservation at our first choice restaurant for the next day, and then continued wandering the streets of the city. The weather was perfect for walking and taking pictures. One highlight was the beautiful red brick St. Anne’s cathedral – it had an interesting feel to it both inside and out.

For dinner we had an early meal at a traditional place called Loky’s. We sat outside on a patio with trees overhead and a historic house behind us. I started with a glass of mead, and then Kuniko and I both had Lithuanian bottled beers, and they were damn good. The waiter (also very good looking) gave us a running commentary on the food and beer and did everything he could to make us comfortable – great service! We had a lentil salad to start with, and then I had a nice big venison roast while Kuniko ordered beaver stew in a mashed potato bowl. Very rustic, very unusual, and very delicious. Sitting out on the patio, enjoying a quiet meal in beautiful weather with the woman I love – I was having one of those moments you always remember. You never know when the moment will strike and everything comes together – and you have the sense to realize it – but for me it was happening right then and I didn’t want it to end.

As we were leaving we asked the waiter to recommend a restaurant that made good potato dumplings, which are the area’s must-try dish, and he recommended a place right next door. We marked it on our map and made a plan to visit for lunch the next day.

We stopped for one more drink at an outdoor bar placed between two cobblestone streets. It was fun to people watch and try to guess what everyone around us was talking about, but we were getting tired by that point. Our weather application said that rain was likely the next day, so we thought we should get some rest and be ready for anything tomorrow.

Up again at 6 am we focused on going out and doing some sightseeing of things we might have missed during our arbitrary stroll through the Old Town the previous evening. The town was almost empty and so we could take some great pictures as the sun rose. Kuniko led us around the other side of St. Peter’s cathedral to find a statue depicting several animals standing on each other’s backs – the Town Musicians of Bremen. From there I led the way to Riga Castle, but the castle itself was not so dramatic on the outside, and it was currently being guarded by several soldiers so we thought it might be better to move on. A ways outside of the Old Town there was a street that was recommended for the baroque facades of the houses lining it, but there were only a few buildings that looked interesting and the rest were pretty standard.

It seemed like we had covered just about everything we wanted to see, and we still had a good day and a half left. Maybe it was Old Town burnout, but we went back to the hotel feeling a little down. Unlike the past two hotels, breakfast was included in our Riga hotel price, so we joined in downstairs. There was a big tour group there (Germans, I think) and so we competed with them for our food. I really liked the pork sausage meatballs they served, and Kuniko enjoyed the raspberry jam to put in her yogurt. The coffee machine was an automatic one, but due to the high volume of guests at that time it was always running out of something causing big delays. It was tricky to finally get our coffee going.

Although our cultural and architectural sightseeing was finished, I still had some foodie sightseeing I wanted to do. We started off at the huge Riga city market south of town. Just across from the bus station where we arrived, the market is housed in and around five giant hangars that used to house zeppelins in the previous World War. Now each hangar contains different categories of food, with a very slight overlap here and there. One was mainly fresh meats and butchers (we saw carts loaded with pig carcasses rolling towards the cold rooms), another was for fish and cured seafood, also there was one for gourmet produce and foods, and one for breads and cheeses. The last one was under construction, and I’m not sure what that will turn out to be. Outside and between the hangars were individual stands selling fruits and vegetables, and also food stands selling pastries, clothes shops and junk shops. The whole area was lively and it was exciting to walk through. Inside one hangar a woman was selling distilled honey spirits, and you could buy it by the shot, the bottle, or the giant bottle. We bought one shot and split it, and it went straight down to my toes – wow! The lady was used to the reaction and just giggled.

Outside on the way out of the market was a small tank on a trailer selling what I thought was beer. After we bought it and drank it turned out to be kvass, a mainly non-alcoholic drink made from bread that was very refreshing. Kvass was big in this region, but that was the only time we had it.

In this area I also tried to find a Dynamo Riga t-shirt. Back when I was a San Jose Sharks hockey fan a couple players came from Riga and played for Dynamo, and so I thought since I was here I should try to pick up a shirt. Surprisingly, nobody was selling them. Certainly it was off-season, but there was no team shop anywhere and the department store and sports shops both came up empty. One clerk recommended a tourist shop on the other side of town, so we filed away the information for later.

We decided that instead of going out to eat tonight, it might be fun to take a break from restaurants and buy all the elements of a picnic from the market instead. Kuniko and I enjoyed walking around choosing different things. I chose two cured cuts of fish – one yellowtail and one salmon that were beautifully aged and tender. Kuniko picked up some braised pork chunks that were nicely browned on the outside. We also bought some fresh fruit – some pears and apples that looked especially delicious. At a nearby supermarket we found sparkling wine made in Riga as well – so it was a completely local meal. After some internet research we found that drinking alcohol outside was illegal in Riga, so we had to adjust the location of our picnic to our hotel room, but it was still something to look forward to. We dropped off our haul of groceries back at the hotel, and then went once again into Old Town.

Our mission this time was to try some local beer.  Local wine was out on this trip (with the exception of Poland), so we focused on local beers and local cheeses usually. Near our hotel was a promising shop called “Easy Beer” but when we arrived at 11:52 am the staff turned us away. I asked when they opened and she said they opened at noon but they weren’t ready yet. As she told us this she actually had a sneer on her face – like a movie villain or something. We just thanked her and moved on, but I was surprised that they were so rude about it. Maybe dealing with English-speaking tourists all day makes you grouchy.

Not twenty steps away we found a place that was open, with outdoor seating, and that was advertising a small local beer tasting set for just 8 euros. We sat down and looked at the menu and it said that they in fact had a large set and a small set. I briefly considered getting the large set, but thought that it was just lunchtime and I didn’t want to end up staggering back to the hotel later. We ordered two small sets, and it turned out that the small sets consisted of four full-sized beers each. We ordered a plate of onion rings to try to balance out all the alcohol, and then set to work. The local beers had a lot of variety and again were very easy to drink. Only one was hoppy like American IPA style. It was nice to sit on the side of the cobblestone street sipping beers and watching the growing number of tourists walking by. Riga is also by the sea so it is sometimes a port of call for cruise ships. We saw groups of Japanese tourists as well – it was strange to hear Japanese spoken after so long without hearing it.

With our “tasting” complete, we staggered off to Freedom Square and tried to track down that elusive Dynamo Riga t-shirt. Somewhat miraculously, we found one at the store recommended by a local. It was the last shirt in the shop, it was in my size, and the design was just what I was hoping for. We also picked up a cheesy keychain to add to our Christmas tree at the end of the year, so it was a great success.

Still buzzing from the beers we went back to the hotel and had a party in our room with all the good food we had bought earlier. We drank the sparkling wine with the fish, meats and fruits, and even tried the local liqueur, called Black Balsam, but it was pretty nasty. No need to bring a bottle of that home.

It was still only early afternoon, we had consumed a shot of honey spirits, four beers each, a bottle of sparkling wine (and a nasty swallow of Black Balsam), and we were ready to keep the party going. We went back to the center of Freedom Square, and sat outside a very swanky restaurant called Kollonade. With a couple of glasses of prosecco we watched people walking by and kids playing in the park, and it was a nice relaxing time. Afterwards we bought a couple of ice creams at Laima, and then sat out on the grass in the shade of a tree next to a small series of waterfalls in the park and chatted about tomorrow’s plans. While eating the ice cream I suddenly remembered that I had read that the donuts from the Riga Market were highly recommended, so we somewhat unwisely went back through the market in search of donuts. We were successful, but ended up wearing a significant amount of the powdered sugar as we tried to eat it outside with a breeze blowing.

So it seemed the wise thing to do was to head back to the hotel and call it a day. I was surprised to see that the time was only about 6 pm when we got back, but we had no trouble falling asleep (as you can probably guess) and we slept soundly through until the next morning.

We are always early starters on vacation. There are a lot of benefits – cooler weather, less tourists at the most famous sites, and fewer cars and traffic to slow us down. But one drawback to this strategy, especially in Europe, is that most morning cafes don’t open until 8 or 9 am, which means we have to wait a few hours to get a nice slow cup of java. In Tallinn, thanks to walking around all the time, we did manage to find one that opened at 7:30 am. It was on the outskirts of Old Town and because most of the business they did was for locals they had reasonable prices and early hours. It was a one-woman show, but the baker was happy to translate what each pastry was, and pointed out her recommendations for us. We shared a small quiche, I had a pastry filled with minced bacon jam, and Kuniko had an apple pastry. We also had two coffees each while sitting at one of the two tables inside the shop. Locals came and went and it was a much better feeling that we got from the historic coffee shop yesterday that was deluged with foreign tourists (like us).

Back at the hotel we had time to kill before heading to the bus stop so I was writing in this journal, and then we packed up the suitcase and rolled out. There was a taxi stand right next to the hotel so it was easy to get a ride to the bus station. Surprisingly the bus station building and area were pretty clean, with a beautiful restored historic bus parked out front. Inside there were plenty of seats and shops selling goods for the road, and we debated buying some cold beers for the four hour drive to Riga, Latvia. In the end we stuck with the snacks we had already bought yesterday, and Kuniko got a funny Sudoku book that was covered with cheesy anime characters. We were worried that we would have nothing to do on the long ride.

Our bus pulled into the designated parking spot at 12:30 pm, and it was a big bus. I had purchased tickets online several months ago, so it was just a matter of lining up to store the suitcase underneath the bus and then get on. The line was a bit chaotic as people didn’t line up as politely as they do in Japan, but our seats were already reserved so no problem. I had sprung for “premium” seats that cost an extra 5 euros, and that got us some wider seats in the back with built-in entertainment systems, internet access, a candy bar and a bottle of water. There was even an onboard toilet that was positioned below the level of the seats as you went down the steps to get off the bus – interesting layout. Anyway, the entertainment system kept Kuniko busy with YouTube and k-pop, so it was a nice way to travel.

The ride itself was pleasant and comfortable. As we left Tallinn we tore into our big chunk of Estonian basil cheese (we didn’t bring a knife), a package of Tuc crackers (onion flavor) and some mortadella. A sign on board said “no alcoholic beverages” so we were glad we didn’t buy those beers. The drive was mostly on regular roads – no big wide expressways – so the pace was slow but steady. Behind me a guy was listening to hardcore heavy metal with his headphones, and when the bus slowed down I could hear it clearly – it was a nice soundtrack for the drive. We passed fields and pastures but few agricultural areas. The houses looked old but clean and well-maintained, and country life in Estonia seemed like a very peaceful way to live. Eventually the road ran alongside the ocean, but the water was so calm it seemed more like a lakeside drive. As we crossed the border into Latvia we saw that they still had the old border inspection buildings and walls, but now people just freely drove through.

Approaching Riga was very similar to when we arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia by bus from the airport. The buildings were very old and humble, but well-maintained and beautiful in their own way. Streets were clean and there was a little less advertising and capitalism than we’re used to seeing in Japan. Finally the bus pulled into the bus terminal in Riga, and we got off. The first thing we noticed was that the temperature was a little warmer than back in Tallinn. The heat was coming off the pavement and being surrounded by buses in the early afternoon also contributed. Once again Kuniko had chosen a hotel near our entry point, and it was a simple task to walk under the railroad bridge and find our hotel about five minutes away. We stayed at the Avalon Hotel, which was in a good location just outside the touristy area, and the room we stayed in (Room 312) was quite large. The only downside to the room was that the window opened up to a view above the inside of the hotel lobby rather than outside, but we didn’t spend much time in the room anyway.

We freshened up a little and then went out to check out Riga. One of the big draws of Riga is their historic Old Town, which was a little more elegant and less touristy than Tallinn’s Old Town. There was one major cathedral, St. Peter’s in the center of town which loomed over everything. The streets were again cobblestone but the shops seemed a little more sophisticated (with the exception of a TGIFridays we discovered). We walked around at random, within the Old Town city walls it was easy to find our direction and maybe it was a bit smaller than Tallinn.

There were also many beautiful parks around the city, and a striking opera house with a fountain and gardens in front. Historic old streetcars circled throughout the city to make transportation easier as well. We really liked the feeling of Riga.

In one open area there was an exhibit of large bear statues – one for each country of the world. A representative artist from each country had painted the bears and then they were lacquered to a beautiful shine and put on display. We had a great time looking through all the colorful bears and seeing the different interpretations of each country’s culture. We also made our way to Freedom Square that had an impressive statue at the center – this would be the place to rally the people in turbulent times. Kuniko pointed out the Laima clock – the landmark that every Riga citizen knows as a place to meet. Laima was the sweets company in this country – and we visited several Laima stores during our stay searching for good desserts.

For dinner we were able to get into my first choice restaurant, called “1221”. Named for the address of the building, it was located at a T-intersection of Old Town and it had a beautiful exterior that caught the eye. We sat outside directly in front of the restaurant and I think we were unintentionally featured in a lot of photos that evening. Dinner was excellent here – we started with a salad with a pink cranberry dressing, fresh pears, and big chunks of gorgonzola. My main course was roasted hare’s back fillets with a fruit and nut sauce, a light potato and cheese soufflé, and blueberries and raspberries on the side. Kuniko had a modernized local dish – sliced river perch with potatoes, homemade cottage cheese and pickled red onions. The bread they served with it was dark and nutty and the butter was laced with truffle for even more impact.

As we sat sipping wine and looking up at all the historic buildings around us we could really feel like we were on vacation. We even had a visit from the local Hare Krishna clan who did a mini parade down the street past our restaurant. We seem to bump into those guys in Europe quite often. Down the street some guys had too much to drink and were laughing crazily, and as the evening started to cool down we talked about our plans for the next day. After dinner we strolled leisurely to our hotel and called it a semi-early night. Even though we had really just sat on a bus most of the day we were kind of tired out.

I was up relatively early on Tuesday morning, but Kuniko needed to be near WiFi to handle an email from a co-worker at 8 am. I figured I’d use the time before the phone call by going out and taking some early morning pictures of the Old Town without all the tourists. I walked through the center of town, now completely empty, and proceeded to the northwest as far as the train station to look around. The train station was small and quaint, and even this early in the morning a few trains were lined up getting ready to head to other parts of Estonia and Europe. Beyond the train station was a newly revitalized area of town. Artists had taken up residence and renovated and redecorated what used to be run-down warehouses and storage. Now things were colorful and a little more edgy. It felt a little like walking through Berkeley, California when I was younger – counter-culture and a bit grungy but very interesting. As I walked back towards town a young man was laying on a park bench crying loudly. It looked like heartbreak to me, but I didn’t stop to offer counseling.

By the time I made it back to the hotel room Kuniko’s job stuff was wrapped up and we went together to go get coffee. We walked around the outside of the Old Town a bit and found Freedom Square, another two cathedrals, and then finally ended up at “Maiasmokk”, the oldest café in a very old town. The coffee was excellent, and when we arrived there were only a few customers besides us. But as we sipped and relaxed surrounded by marzipan animals and glamorous décor more and more tourists streamed in. Across from us a family of six sat around a table each staring at their own smartphone silently and I felt like it was getting to be time to leave.

Outside we could see that the cruise ships had arrived, and suddenly the streets were filling with tour groups following their guides and eager to see the Old Town. We proceeded outside of Old Town, and found an interesting shopping center/produce market that was built inside an old railroad depot. Outside was the produce market and in front was a big artistic metal sculpture the emitted mist when the temperature went up. The interior was stylish and clean and had a very good vibe. We looked through each shop – the cheese shop, the fish market, the candy store, and then ended up having two big pints of beer at a small beer kiosk on the first floor. The kiosk had some local beers on tap, and we enjoyed a little relaxation time while chatting with the staff, who were young, attractive, and spoke excellent English (again!). The beer we really liked here was by the brewery called Hell Hunt, and it was called a “Tume” which is a style of beer we’ve never had before. It was dark but not heavy and easy to drink a lot of – a dangerous beer!

We headed back in town just in time to buy eat at a pancake restaurant for lunch. A restaurant called Kompressor serves up savory and sweet pancakes in town and we really wanted to try it. We were waiting at the door when they opened, and that was a big factor in us getting our pancakes before the rush of other customers showed up. These pancakes were huge! We ordered some fried potato balls with garlic sauce as an appetizer to go with our sparkling wine, and then dug into our pancakes. Kuniko ordered a peaches, cream and brie stuffed pancake, and mine pancake was filled with button mushrooms and blue cheese. We finished both big pancakes, surprisingly enough, and then went back to our hotel for a little recovery time.

In the afternoon we figured we ought to try a quick test run to see just how far away the bus terminal was. The next day we were taking a bus to Latvia, and we didn’t want to waste any time by choosing the wrong way to the terminal. After walking for about 20 minutes we gave up and decided it would be best to hail a taxi from our hotel instead. That turned out to be the right choice as it was still a long ways off.

On the way back towards town we stopped in at a big department store called Stockmann (which we found in several other countries on this trip), we walked through a big shopping mall called Solaris and admired Estonian food courts and mall dining, and we took a brief rest near another cathedral to let our feet recharge. After doing a long loop around town in the rapidly warming weather we found a place I wanted to try, called the Boheme Café, which had dumplings that were recommended. We sat inside to beat the heat and had two tall beers and a small bowl each of dumplings – one with sour cream and one with chili sauce. As Kuniko said, they were more like pasta than dumplings, and we enjoyed them but it didn’t feel like an “authentic” dish. Little did I know then just how many more dumplings were in our future…

Already we had done a lot of walking, so we figured that a nap was in order. Back in the comfort of the hotel room we dozed a couple of hours and then headed back out in search of more food. The life of a foodie is not easy – there is never enough room in your stomach to try everything.

One of my students had recommended an underground beer cave called Porgu in Old Town, so we went there thinking we’d have a couple of drinks and just some small dishes of food. We ordered the food, but the dishes were anything but small – the antipasti plate had big chunks of meat and fish, and the cheese plate wasn’t sparse either with lots of different cheeses and big bread croutons. I tried a couple of beers there but the best was a “honey beer” (not mead) that really had a nice honey undertone while being completely without sweetness. Kuniko tried the liqueur famous in Tallinn, called Vana Tallinn, and we decided that we might as well buy a bottle later and bring it back to Japan for the cocktail shelf. After our meal we did some shopping to get the liqueur, as well as some cheese, meat and snacks for the bus ride tomorrow.

We got back to the hotel at about 9:30 that night and it was still bright outside. Although nightlife in the city was just ramping up, we called it a night and retired to our hotel room for journal writing and packing. We’re on the road again tomorrow to another new country.

Despite our big dinner the previous night we were craving a breakfast for this morning. Since we’d be stuck on a ferry for a couple hours and with no idea what kind of food/drink might be available during that time it seemed like a good idea to eat a real breakfast. We went to a buffet breakfast in the center of town at Fazer Café. Fazer is the name of a local chocolate company – we saw their products everywhere in Helsinki. The price of the buffet was quite reasonable and included plenty of good coffee to go along with it. I stocked up on bacon and eggs, the cheese plate was nicely laid out with several different kinds of cheese, and of course the dessert and cake section was impressive. I had a beet salad there that was exceptionally good – they know their beets in this part of the world.

While eating I noticed that all of the staff, and about 80% of the customers were blonde haired. There are a lot of blondes in this city – all that Scandinavian DNA I guess. We bought a few chocolates to go for a taste test later on, and then went back to our hotel to pack up and check out. It was a short taxi ride to the harbor (I didn’t want to drag our poor suitcase the whole way) and then we arrived at the terminal building with a giant ferry (185 m / 607 ft. long) waiting alongside. The terminal building was quite active when we got there – it had been dead the previous day when we bought the tickets. We checked in at a kiosk which issued us two cards with magnetic strips, and then we slid the cards through the gates upstairs to be allowed into the general waiting area. There were already a lot of people there even though we weren’t scheduled to board for another 30 minutes or so. We stood in line in front of the boarding gates – there were three big doors with a digital clock above showing the boarding time. As we waited some younger passengers started to do some entertaining – some juggling and dancing to make a little money while they waited. Soon enough they opened the gates and we went onboard, rolling our suitcase behind us.

We weren’t alone with the luggage, and they had a good system to handle it. There was an optional “luggage room” where you could put your bags on racks, and then just as the ferry left they locked it for the duration of the voyage. It was a relatively secure way to deal with all the bags, and luckily we didn’t forget anything we needed in our suitcase.

After dropping off the suitcase we set out to explore the ship. It was quite large and really more like a small city than anything. The lower floors had plenty of room for trucks, cars, and cabins that people could rent (but for only a two hour voyage it didn’t make sense for us) and the upper floors had a surprising amount of shopping – kind of like a duty free area of the airport. There were small game rooms and casino machines sprinkled around, and several big restaurants, at least four bars that I saw, a nightclub (that seemed to be doing good business even at noon), and a large kid area in the front of the ship for them to play and be entertained. We spent much of our time on top of the ship on the sundecks sipping local beer and enjoying the scenery.

As we slipped out of the harbor and cruised past the fortress island I took some more pictures, and soon enough we were out to sea with Helsinki and Finland fading away behind us.

Since we had time to kill we walked around to see what the shopping areas were like. By far the most popular store was selling alcohol – lots and lots of alcohol. Not only beer – they had premium wines and spirits on a scale that was impressive. More kinds than Costco, and people buying it like it was going to be illegal tomorrow.  I thought the prices were similar to duty free prices at airports – that is, not such a great deal really – but most people didn’t share the same opinion and were lining up to fill their shopping bags. This alcohol was not to drink now – most people were taking it home.

We spent some time at a restaurant below decks sipping red wine and going through a chocolate tasting of the Fazer sweets that we had bought earlier that morning, and soon enough our two hours was up and we started to approach the city of Tallinn, Estonia. There was a big group of people waiting at the doors to disembark, and once we got our suitcase we joined them. From there it was down a long passageway and then directly onto the public streets of Tallinn – no passport or immigration check at all. We had done a passport check when we bought the tickets the previous day and I guess that is enough for the EU zone.

Again, Kuniko had planned the hotel location well and it was a short walk into town from the harbor area. The hotel was located on the border of the Old Town of Tallinn, and that made it easy to walk there without fighting crowds of tourists. We checked into the Hotel Bern, stashed our bags in our room, and then went out to see what the Old Town was like.

Our first reaction to Tallinn’s Old Town was “charmed”, I’d say. The buildings are historic and well-maintained, the streets are cobblestone and there are cathedrals and interesting buildings around every corner. When we arrived there were quite a few tourists walking around gawking like we were, and lots of people sort of naturally migrated to the central square that was lined with restaurants featuring outdoor dining.

Also on the central market square was a big cathedral, with odd dragon heads sticking out near the top. The market square was also used for the occasional “historical re-enactment”, which meant that some poor schmuck in a medieval costume would shout about something now and then. They even had girls chained to wagons going by sometimes, which I hope was just a re-enactment. We thought it was pretty cheesy, but with the beautiful architecture and all the outside dining and beautiful weather we were willing to overlook it.

Our first stop was to make a reservation at a highly recommended restaurant but unfortunately they were all booked up for both that day and the following day. It was much more popular than I had expected! Luckily we got a reservation at my second choice restaurant for later that night.

In the meantime, we did some sightseeing around town, enjoyed the views of the city from the overlook, and generally tried to settle into this new atmosphere. Helsinki was a big city and this was much smaller and more touristy, and that took some adjustment. We stopped for some prosecco on the square – I think it was an Italian restaurant but the staff had to wear some odd orange costumes that looked more like monk’s robes and I couldn’t really understand the significance. I asked our waitress, and she just said, “They told me to wear this so I didn’t ask any questions.”

Our dinner was at a place a few blocks from the central square called Leib (which means bread in Estonian). The restaurant was located in the back yard of a historic building with tables on a patio and in their garden. The garden was really comfortable, in the shadow of an ancient stone church and near the entrance was a statue of Sean Connery’s head which made for an interesting discussion point. The focus at Leib was local, natural foods. We started with a dumpling appetizer that was unique – the wrappers of the dumplings were made from shaved radish and filled with salty buttery squash. There was black bread served as a side with butter and green onions. The green onions combined with the quality butter was a new taste for me, and the butter is served from a wooden spatula that we saw elsewhere in Tallinn. Kuniko ordered the trout with various vegetables, and I had the roasted quail on salted kale leaves. Both dishes were really good and you could tell they put a lot of care into the menu. The wine selections were excellent as well, and we left feeling refreshed rather than stuffed.

After dinner we had the craving to eat some cheese, preferably local, and so we ended up at a small restaurant closer to the center of town (memorably called “Tabula Rasa”) that featured an Estonian cheese plate on their menu. We also ordered sprats on toast, which came served with a soft-boiled egg on top – the sprats were great. The cheeses also were interesting – there were six different kinds including a smoked goat cheese, one with rosemary, a sheep’s milk manchego imitation that I liked, one that interestingly tasted like it was embedded with nori, and the cheese came with breadsticks and clumps of a tasty berry jam. We had some prosecco and red wine with our “second dinner”, so we were feeling pretty happy by the end of it. Our blonde-haired waitress was really helpful and spoke excellent English so we were in good hands.

Finally, after these gastronomic accomplishments we strolled back to our hotel. The sun was still hours from setting but we were tucked into bed and getting ready for a full day of looking around Tallinn tomorrow.

We slept well in our hotel and found ourselves wide awake at 6 am, so we got organized and left the hotel around 7 am to do some exploring. Despite the rainy weather forecast from our hotel lobby staff yesterday it was a beautiful day out – clear blue skies and cool temperatures.

Our target this morning was to head on foot to see a monument built of stainless steel pipes in a park about two kilometers west of the city. At 7 am there were not many people out and about, and it was a very peaceful walk. Along the way part of the main road was under construction, so we cut across a park and walked alongside the coast which was more pleasant. The city has nicely integrated trees and greenery and the pathway we were on passed small boat clubs and big apartment buildings with views of the ocean. At one point we turned a corner and a wild fox broke out of the brush, stopped and looked at us for a second, and then disappeared.

We finally reached the pipes and took a few pictures – it was one of the few “artistic” sightseeing spots in the city and I was expecting crowds, but there was only one other group (a Japanese family of three) so we timed it right.

From there we walked back towards the center of the city, circumventing a lake and walking past strange sculptures and aggressive geese in the park before arriving across from the central train station. We ducked into a café for some morning coffee, and while I waited in line to order the British family of four in front of me agonized over the decision of what to get. They finally saw me and let me cut ahead, so Kuniko and I could enjoy our café latte and cappuccino and watch people walking by outside.

Next on our list of things to do was to take a short ferry ride to Suomenlinna, an island fortress built to control the waterways in front of Helsinki and defend against Russian attacks over the years. It was easy enough to buy ferry tickets and we boarded the ferry early and let it fill up around us. It was just 5-10 minutes to the rather large set of islands, and then we walked on our own around enjoying the quiet. It was still quite early, and so there weren’t many sightseers here which made it perfect for a relaxing walk. The whole island had a forgotten, deserted feeling. There were historic old buildings in the interior of the island (some converted to cafes and restaurants but they looked abandoned from the outside), and around the exterior there were still many old cannons and fortifications. Some Asian guy was straddling the barrel of one giant cannon and looking longingly out to sea – Freud would have a field day with that one. Along the coast we saw some people relaxing in swimsuits in the sun, and we could tell that winters must be tough there because people were just absolutely drinking up the sunshine.

After getting our fill of the fortress island we caught a ferry back. Our ferry this time was more historic – it reminded us of the White Star ferries in Hong Kong with the all-wood interiors and antique feel. The ferries coming in were getting more and more full and the ride back was almost empty, so it seemed like we timed our visit well. The ferry dropped us back in front of the market at the harbor, so we went back to the tent advertising moose balls and had a chance to put some in our hungry bellies. We also ordered a big cut of salmon filet. Walking by earlier in the morning we saw them laying out the long salmon filets, skin side down in a healthy amount of olive oil on a large hot griddle, and they let them cook slowly – bubbling away for an hour or more until they cook through. The piece that we received was some of the best salmon I’ve ever had – but that only proved to be true for a few hours until I had some more delicious salmon later on. The moose balls were made of ground moose meat, formed into meatballs and served with lingonberry jam and a garlic cream sauce. It was a big win all around – everything was great. They also served some potatoes and vegetables on the side, but they weren’t so flavorful, unfortunately. We washed everything down with two cold Lapin Kulta light beers in the bottle. While we ate our food at the table behind the food tent another guy walked up and sat down at an empty table, produced a baguette, salami and cheese, and had a little solo picnic. Nobody seemed to mind but I thought it was weird that he would take a busy table away from the restaurant so that he could eat his own food.

After lunch we bought a cheesy keychain from one of the souvenir vendors in an adjacent tent, and then walked down the harbor to the end to buy tickets on the ferry to Tallinn, Estonia the next day. We bought tickets from the Viking Line, and it turned out to be a pretty reasonable price for a two hour international boat ride.

Back to the sunny and increasingly busy Esplanadin promenade, we dropped into a restaurant with lots of tables outside and beautiful glass floor-to-ceiling windows and gardens. In this very elegant environment we enjoyed a couple glasses of prosecco – it was Sunday after all. We spent a slow, relaxing time here sipping our drinks and watching the tourists walking by around us. Nearby was a big fountain, with streetcars passing, and above the blue sky still showed no signs of rain, or even clouds, for that matter. The hot summer of Japan seemed far, far away.

In the afternoon we did a little shopping – some for souvenirs (Marimekko cocktail napkins and “Moomin” goods) and also snacks for ourselves. At a bakery we bought a piece of rice-filled bread which is apparently a local favorite, and I liked the contrast in textures while eating it. At a fruit stand we bought some local blueberries and lingonberries and enjoyed them in our hotel room at our leisure. We both used the hotel lounge to relax as well, sipping beer and writing in this journal while the maids cleaned our room upstairs.

Yesterday we had made a reservation for dinner tonight, and we had some time to kill so we walked around the city, upping our step count and seeing more of the sights beyond the tourist areas. We rested our feet in a park to the south of the city, and watched some teens playing basketball very casually nearby. After about ten minutes of relaxation, we heard a sudden hissing, and then it built to a mild roar. I thought maybe a truck was coming out of a nearby tunnel, but then suddenly we realized that a curtain of rain was heading our way. We had a mild moment of panic while we tried to get our umbrella out of Kuniko’s bag while shifting and protecting our shopping bags, but we managed it. We waited out the rain under a nearby tree, and it turned out to be just a brief rainstorm.

Rather than risk more rain we walked into town a little closer to our restaurant and found a bar that looked interesting called “Roster”. We sat at a high table with candles all around us, a big neon skull hanging on the wall behind, and drank red wine by the glass. The wine was good – Kuniko had a blend of French and Portuguese grapes that was very drinkable. The wine cellar there had some dummy bottles attached to a belt that moved up and down from the basement to the ground floor – kind of unique. The staff was really helpful and friendly, and it was a good place to kill some time waiting for the rain to clear. It turned out that our hotel lobby weather forecast was correct after all.

After our wine the rain was finished, and we walked around the corner to our restaurant for the night, the highly recommended traditional Finnish restaurant called “Savotta”. They served mainly hearty roasted meats and fish, and it turned out to be quite good. We started with an appetizer plate full of interesting things: bear salami, thinly sliced roast reindeer, lamb pate, Atlantic char, wild mushrooms blended with dill cream, a mini-pastry, and more. Everything was good – I had no idea that dill went well with so many things. Kuniko’s main dish was ten-hour braised lamb served in a roughly-carved wooden bowl, and I had a big slab of roasted Atlantic char that was once again the best salmon I’ve ever had. For dessert we had a rhubarb crumble with vanilla bean cream, and then we were done. It was a great meal and we were full – we walked straight back to the hotel and fell right into bed.

We got up at 4:30 am on Saturday, the same time I usually get up for work on a normal weekday, and we were ready to go by 5:00 am. We did the usual household lockdown – turning off the automatic timers and making sure that everything will be quiet while we are gone for two weeks. Then we rolled our new suitcase (recently bought during our trip to California) out to Okubo station to take the first train out. We got to Sannomiya, bought some tickets to Kansai airport, and boarded the bus. I think we both slept through most of the bus ride – I remember the bus pulling out onto the expressway then the next thing I remember is arriving at the airport – a pretty painless way to get there.

For the first time we are taking a direct flight from Kansai International Airport to our first trip destination. Usually we do some sort of transit in Dubai, China or Turkey, so this should be fun. It also cuts a lot of wasted time in airports – it is only 9 1/2 hours to Helsinki on a Finnair jet from Osaka, so more time to enjoy our holiday.

There was still a little time to kill so we had a light breakfast and coffee from Starbucks, and then the gate opened and we checked our luggage and got our boarding passes. There was time on the other side of security, so we relaxed together in a semi-private lounge chair on that side of the terminal, and eventually got two cold beers and some Jagarico snacks to munch on – we were eager to have that first cold beer of the trip. While waiting we sat near a window that facced our Finnair jet being prepped and loaded. Kuniko still had some phone calls to make and emails to send off to students, and there was a funny moment when she was in the middle of explaining something to a company that her student is meeting with, and then the airport announcement system started blaring overhead so loudly they could barely finish the call. Finally, with everything all wrapped up we boarded and took our seats and we were off.

It was my first time on Finnair and it was a good experience. If I had to describe the service of Finnair in one word I would say “simple”. I guess they are building this sort of Nordic simplicity theme, but from the meals to the easy to use interface for the in-flight entertainment system everything was simple (in a good way). I managed to sleep a little more on the flight as we flew around North Korea, over China and Mongolia, and then watched three movies over Russia. After that it was time for our descent into Helsinki.

Helsinki wasn’t really on our radar when planning this trip, but the combination of direct flight, good price, and constant ferry service across to Estonia convinced us it would make a good starting place. I had heard that there wasn’t a lot to do in Helsinki, and that it was quite expensive, and both of those things turned out to be true. But it also was a nice re-introduction to the European art of summer relaxation.

After zipping through immigration and customs (the airport was surprisingly silent and empty – most of the passengers from our flight went on to transfers and there were only a handful of people staying here) we walked through the terminal and found the train station. It was easy to buy two train tickets at a kiosk using a credit card, and then we went downstairs and caught the next train into town. It was about a half hour ride, and during that time nobody checked our tickets so the ticket price was technically an unnecessary expense.

The train ride was short but nice, with great views of how people lived outside of town. The weather was cool and there was plenty of blue sky and sunshine – quite a contrast to the sticky wet summer we had left behind in Osaka.

Kuniko had chosen the hotel carefully based on the location of the train station, and when the train pulled into the old fashioned Helsinki Central Terminal we had only a short walk to reach our check-in counter. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Helsinki Centre, and it was fairly stylish, clean and friendly.  At check-in the clerk told us that rain was in the forecast for the next day, so we decided to drop off our stuff and do sort of aggressive sightseeing today to avoid gray cloudy pictures the next day.

It turned out that the town was easy to see on foot. We started by walking through the center of town towards the water on a pedestrian walkway/park called the Esplanadin Puisto. With shops and streets on both sides there was a center strip of a park dedicated to pedestrians, with fountains, statues and beautifully maintained gardens. The entire walkway was lined with benches and this being Saturday many of the locals were sitting outside soaking in the sun. We followed the pathway to the harbor area, just one of the many ports on the southern side of the city. This port seemed to be filled mainly with cruise ships and ferries, and we ended up riding one of them out of the country a few days later.

The harbor is also where they had many tents selling fruits, souvenirs, and food (salmon fillets, moose balls, reindeer haunches, steamed vegetables). We decided to wait on the moose balls and instead spent time in the area taking pictures of the cathedrals and other buildings. Two highlights were the Uspenski Cathedral, a big red cathedral overlooking the harbor directly, and the more dramatic Helsinki Cathedral on a square a few blocks away from the harbor.

We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called SUNN, located on that same square. Our dinner table was next to a window so we could look out on the cathedral while we ate. The square in front of the cathedral was active with tourists, some demonstrators (holding signs with a strange illustrated picture of their hero), and a few police officers watching things idly.

The wine list was quite good and it was nice to be in the EU again and have access to their high quality wines at a (relatively) lower price. The dinner was excellent, too. I had a cut of reindeer sirloin, and Kuniko had an open-faced sandwich of crayfish on dark bread.

After dinner we strolled a bit looking for a wine bar for a couple of glasses of wine and maybe some local cheese, but the wine bar never appeared. We instead went to a craft beer place and sat outside. We were very surprised to see the price of 500mL of craft beer was about the same as in Japan – about 10 euros. Rather than spend more time (and money) here we decided to find a place to do some shopping and take the party back to our hotel room.

We settled on a grocery store near our hotel, and we bought two pieces of cheese and a big carton of blueberry juice for our nightcap. One cheese was from Denmark, a truffle camembert, and the other from a local farm – a semi-hard cheese laced with chili peppers. They were both great, but about 15 minutes into our blueberry juice and cheese party we both felt the effects of the time difference and jet lag, and we hit the sack soon after. It was still light outside – the sun set around 10:00 pm – but we had fallen asleep long before that.

This July we had a chance to get away from the heat of Japan and spend some time relaxing with my parents in Glen Ellen. It had been a long time since I had been there, and I was curious to see the aftermath of the big fires in that area as well as catch up with events in my home town.

The first part of the trip was actually in Taipei, Taiwan. We got cheap tickets flying on EVA Air, and so on the first leg we had about 10 hours to kill in Taipei. Our luggage was checked through to San Francisco, so we could take the train into Taipei and enjoy some food tourism without worrying about dragging our bags around.

The train ride from the airport was very convenient, and helpful staff at the airport made sure that we were able to buy tickets and get to the correct train platform. From there we caught an express train that took just 40 minutes to get to the center of Taipei. It was my first time to ride this train, a train that my company built, and it certainly was nicer than the bus ride that we used last time.

Once we arrived in the city center we made a beeline for the noodle shop that Mamiko had introduced us to last time we were in Taiwan. We found it easily enough thanks to the GPS application on my phone, down a dirty and slightly dark alley lined with small open air restaurants. This was the kind of place where nobody speaks English, so we did the best we could – using gestures and interpreting the Chinese characters through the filter of our Japanese knowledge.  We ordered two bowls of “beef noodles” – one with spices and one plain. Unfortunately, once they arrived we realized that we had ordered something different from what we had remembered. They were great – huge chunks of braised beef in soup with udon style noodles – but not what we had meant to order. Fortunately, the guy next to us received a bowl of “ja-ja men” which turned out to be the dish that we wanted to order, so we pointed and ordered what he was having. Then we faced down three big bowls of noodles and did them justice by finishing them.

The ja-ja men was just as good as I remembered. I’m not sure exactly how they make the pungent garlic meat sauce that is poured over the thick udon-like noodles, but it contains some meat, some beef fat, and loads of roasted garlic.  I felt bad for whoever was going to sit next to us on the our upcoming flight.

From there we wandered to several points on our map – including Shilin Market. The market is quite large and we ate underground to avoid the heat. We picked a restaurant at random, and sat on tables covered with laminated bright yellow menus. People walked by and watched as others ate, and it was a lively place even in the late afternoon. Because we had eaten a few more bowls of noodles than we had expected it was a little tougher to pack in more food, but we did all right. Especially good were the shorompo – slightly different from the more common Hong Kong dumplings, but good in their own way. Less interesting were the gyoza – it tasted like the filling was more cabbage than meat, and the tangy sweet sauce on top didn’t rub me the right way.

Despite having a little more time available we decided to play it safe and head back to the airport, ensuring that we’d be in an air conditioned environment near some clean bathrooms. It was nice to explore the airport a little, and there was a surprising amount of shops even before passing back through security.

We caught our late night flight out of Taipei, and then it was about a 10 hour flight to San Francisco. The food on EVA Air was not the greatest, but they did have a big screen entertainment center on the seats in front of us, and the staff were generally friendly. The air conditioner was blasting pretty hard making the cabin quite cold (I’ve noticed that this is common in Taiwan in general – air conditioners are off or at full blast), so with the aid of a blanket I was able to get almost five hours of sleep which was a new record for me. We watched movies and some TV after that, and then we landed at our destination. After getting through immigration and customs we met up with my mom and dad who were waiting patiently outside the gate, and then we took the long drive home to Glen Ellen.

We spent a really relaxing week with my parents in the comparatively cooler weather. Besides catching up, playing chickenfoot every night and eating delicious homemade Mexican food we also fit in plenty of wine, beer and cheese tasting, and shopping. Our experience tasting wine at Imagery Winery and St. Francis was really nice, as well as a long drive north to taste wine and beer in Anderson Valley, at Anderson Valley Brewing, Roederer Estates, Navarro, and Toulouse Winery. We had a nice experience at Gloria Ferrer tasting sparkling wine turn into some kind of horror movie nightmare when we were chased away from our food by a swarm of flies from the fields next door. There are some bad points about eating outside, I guess.

We had dinner one night at Glen Ellen Star, a restaurant that I had wanted to visit for a long time. Kuniko and I are big on vegetables and they specialized in roasting various veggies in skillets in a big woodfire oven. The four of us sat at a table in the center of the lively restaurant and dug through five different veggie plates, two appetizers and two main dishes of pasta. Even the ice cream was excellent – we liked the bourbon maple ice cream the best, I think. Everything was good, and we even had a chance to talk to Erinn Benziger and her husband the chef, Ari Weiswasser.

Surveying the fire damage was a weird feeling. There was no pattern as to which houses escaped the fire and which were consumed, and by the time we arrived the land was growing up again with grasses and bushes filling in the gaps that the fire left. Some places were already being rebuilt, and it will be interesting to see the area after another couple of years. We were glad that our house made it through safely. My parents had done some landscaping to the front and back yards of the house, so it was nice to see the results as the plants have started to grow in to their new locations. Everything looked clean and beautiful, and the deer were right at home walking through and eating their fill of the fresh plants and bushes.

On our way one day to pick up a pizza at Mary’s my dad and I stopped in at Sonoma Springs, a new (to me) local brewery at the end of Petaluma Avenue in Sonoma. The beer was quite good, and I liked the atmosphere inside. We tried a couple of beers and I even took a beer back to Japan to give to a beer-loving friend.

Towards the end of the visit we went up to Benziger Winery to meet some old friends and some of my dad’s co-workers. It was good to see Joe Benziger, Ignacio, Jose, and Joaquin. It felt in some ways like no time had passed at all, and in other ways like a completely different timeline in my life. It was interesting to interact with Joe in a situation where he wasn’t my boss – just a guy I used to work with. Joaquin and I spent a long time talking and he sounded happy with his life. It was great to be back up there, but I am really happy that I have moved on from my Benziger days.

At the end of the week we packed up all our goodies into two new suitcases, and got ready to head back. The original plan was to meet Mark, Susan, Maya and Charlie at the San Francisco airport, as they had to return their rental car there. However, the plan was changed based on some travel troubles that they had experienced, so we ended up waiting for them in Glen Ellen. Our flight was at 1:00 am the next day, so we had the evening to make it down to the airport.

They showed up at around 8 pm, and so we had about 30 minutes to spend with Charlie and Maya before we left for SFO. Banzai stayed behind to watch the girls, and we drove down to the city in two cars without any trouble. Susan drove their rental car with Mark, Kuniko and I as passengers, and my dad drove his van with only our three big pieces of luggage as company. We followed the GPS to the car rental place and arrived just five minutes before the deadline of 10 pm, so far, so good. We stepped out to the curb to wait for my dad to show up, but he apparently took a wrong turn and couldn’t find us. I think part of the problem was that the car rental place we dropped off their car was in a different part of town, so we waited for about 20-30 minutes before changing the plan again.

The next step was to take the rental car shuttle to the airport, but the slightly odd (possibly on drugs?) driver only took us to another shuttle stop. The shuttles were packed because the airport rail system was stopped, so it made for a tight squeeze. Luckily we didn’t have to worry about any baggage. After some anxious moments with the clock ticking down, we arrived at the international terminal to find my dad waiting patiently with our luggage. Mark and Susan could sense our unease – we hate to have our fate out of our hands right before a long international flight – and they kept up plenty of conversation to keep our minds on other things.  It was good to spend some time talking with them.

Once through immigration and security the only restaurant still open was a Japanese restaurant, so we ate edamame and a few pieces of sushi with our Sapporo beers until boarding. We were able to catch our flight to Taipei without any trouble, and it was a smooth flight back. I got a new record of eight hours of sleep on a twelve hour flight. I hope I can pull off something like that again during our next trip.

It was a great time with family and now we’re focusing on the next trip to Northeastern Europe and the Baltic states. Hard to believe it is just a couple of weeks away!

This past weekend we went into Osaka to meet up with Yoshi and Mamiko and attend the annual Osaka Craft Beer Festival in Namba. The weather this year was good, not too sunny, with a thin layer of clouds to keep the direct sun off our skin.

We left for Osaka a little early on Saturday and killed time in the new and quite impressive basement restaurant area of Lucua, a big department store that is part of the JR train station in Umeda. The design of the food area is such that you can either buy different foods (from all over the world in addition to locally grown) and take them home or cook them right there and eat them with friends in sort of a picnic style. Usually lunch or dinner in Osaka means a restaurant but this was a somewhat more casual option that gives you a great deal of choice. There are also restaurants nearby – and I saw at least three that I’d like to try in the near future. More culinary options always make me happy.

We met up with Yoshi and Mamiko near the event space, and had a great time drinking through seven beers each. There were some of the usual breweries there, and this time a few new ones. I was especially impressed with Voyager Brewing from Wakayama (Yoshi’s home prefecture). They had a really nice IPA that I was thinking about long after the event ended. We bumped into my coworker, Mr. Tachikawa, who was working as a volunteer at the event, and he stopped by to drink with us for a while. It was a fun afternoon, as usual.

After drinking our fill, we brought Yoshi and Mamiko with us back to Lucua to try out the basement picnic format and we had a carafe of prosecco with a small plate of prosciutto and cheese while watching all the customers buzz around us.

Sunday was more of a relaxation day for us. We did a little bit of shopping, Kuniko did some serious housecleaning and organizing, and sitting out back on the patio snacking on seared bonito, grilled eel, and sautéed ear mushrooms.

We also took in a couple of movies – Three Billboards, and Spectre. Three Billboards turned out to be a bit dramatic and I’m not sure if I liked it or not, but it certainly had a lot of good acting in it.

Dinner was a truffle and cheese grilled cheese sandwich along with a tomato and herb salad that Kuniko whipped up.

It was a great weekend, and I think we are all charged up and ready for the new week.

Today is the first day back to work in nine days. We had the annual Golden Week holidays which are a happy coincidence of several national holidays lined up together. Every year Golden Week holidays mean that many people in Japan take the chance to travel, and unfortunately that means spikes in hotel and flight prices – sometimes double or triple the regular rates. So as usual, we decided to stick around and take things easy, and instead do our traveling in July, August and December. So how did we spend all that time off?

We hosted a college friend of Kuniko’s, who brought her two kids and husband along for a Mexican lunch. We cleaned out our closets – especially focusing on old paperwork that we had collected over the years. It felt good to throw so much paper out!

We did a Costco run, and also visited the new opening of “Jupiter” – the replacement import food store that opened recently. This place looks pretty good, actually, and I think we could have had a lot worse. We buy a lot of food items from overseas, and it is nice to have a source nearby.

We also spent some time at the beach and Akashi Brewery. The brewery was celebrating their 20th anniversary with half price beer, and they also introduced three new kinds of beer. That combination was hard to pass up during the warmer weather of May, so together we visited twice (on the first day and the last day of Golden Week) and I snuck in a solo visit as well.

I met up with Yoshi and together we went to see the Hanshin Tigers playing at Koshien stadium. It had been about ten years since I had cheered on the Tigers at the stadium, and we really enjoyed the game. It turned out that the Tigers lost in extra innings, but it was an exciting game to watch up until the end.

For Cinco de Mayo we had carne asada on the grill, and chips and guacamole, so we even covered the foreign holiday events.

The most important thing about the holidays was having the time to spend it slowly with Kuniko. We sometimes get caught up in our work schedules and routines and Golden Week gave us time to concentrate on each other and to remember how lucky we are to live the way that we do. We are being careful not to take any of this for granted.

So the holidays are over and it is back to work for us. We’ll be on a regular work schedule until July when we’ll be able to sneak off to the USA for some family time. Until then, back to teaching!

One of the downsides of living where we do now is that we are pretty far away from my old neighborhood in Futami. Actually it isn’t really that far as the crow flies, but because of the train systems and the way they are laid out it is a pain to get over there. That means that I don’t get to visit with the Denya master and the gang very often.

Luckily almost every year the Denya master organizes a small get-together at a restaurant in Tsuchiyama, which is a bit easier for me to reach after work. Last night I stopped in at an izakaya called “Hinode” (sunrise) and had dinner and drinks with the Master and seven other Denya regulars. These were the original gang – the first local people in Japan that I met on my own.

Fifteen years ago I walked into Denya for the first time looking for some dinner, and the master was kind enough to change all the difficult kanji into the more simple hiragana writing that I had learned. We struggled with communication, but thanks to the help with that menu I became a regular customer, and my visits to the yakitori (thanks to my empty stomach) became big motivators to learn to speak and read Japanese.

In a nice bit of “closing the circle” the Denya master had asked me to help him out recently by translating his Japanese yakitori menu into English, because there has been a few foreign customers coming in lately. So I delivered his translated menu last night, and he seemed happy about it.

The other folks were doing well, looking good, and there was some good conversation. These people grew up together, and still live in the same area – they support each other’s families and businesses and it is a pretty tight-knit group. I felt lucky to be included in their extended family last night. I’ll try to get out to Futami more often – it is amazing how fast the time flies between visits.

This weekend we’ll be catching a movie (Ready Player One) on Saturday and then visiting Kuniko’s folks on Sunday, so plenty to do. The weather has been starting to warm up slightly, and then it changes back to cold for a few days. Hopefully the good weather will hold for the weekend.

We celebrated the end of March and the end of the current class term by taking a few days off and doing some fun stuff. The whole thing started just with a plan to visit the Yamazaki whisky distillery near Kyoto, and then it kind of snowballed into a four-day weekend extravaganza.

Since I had no classes scheduled, I took Thursday and Friday off. My students had wrapped up everything on Wednesday, and I have several open days the following week so there wasn’t any urgent planning that needed to be done.

Thursday morning I had to myself while Kuniko went to work, and then I drove the car over to Nishi Akashi and picked her up on her way home. From there we went over to Costco to do some rare weekday shopping. It was busier than we had expected, but still manageable. We bought lots of prosecco, a big block of Manchego cheese, and some other staples of outdoor eating since the weather had recently improved. All that remained on that day was to head home and sit outside on the deck, sip wine and enjoy being off work.

Friday was a big day. We woke up at 4:30 in the morning, caught the first train out, and went into Osaka. We started the adventure by lining up in front of Universal Studios Japan before they opened. One of Kuniko’s students works at USJ and got us a free pass, and although Kuniko goes there for work three or four times a year for me it had been almost ten years. It was fun to go there together after such a long time.

I was surprised to feel a little bit of giddy excitement as we waited outside the gate – just like when my parents took me to Disneyland when I was a kid. There were a lot of people lined up for the opening of the park at 8:00 am. In an interesting move, they let in people who had stayed at the USJ hotel in 15 minutes early, and there was a huge amount of people running in ahead of the crowds. It was a nice hotel promotion with a big audience of people who will consider staying there the next time they come to Osaka. Good move, marketing people!

Finally we were let in, and we hustled off to the Harry Potter area of USJ first. We didn’t exactly run, but we were walking much faster than usual. The Harry Potter area is set up like the fictional town of Hogsmeade, with lots of shops and realistic looking snow on the rooftops, and even a nearly full sized Hogwarts Express locomotive parked outside. We passed these at full speed aiming directly for the Harry Potter ride, and by the time we got in line the wait was only about 30 minutes. When we left the Harry Potter area it had grown to a more than two hour wait, so our 4:30 am wake up on a holiday paid off nicely.

The waiting time was time well spent, mainly because the design of the attraction had lots of visual entertainment for the guests. Many of the actors from the original movies were reprising their roles from the film (I hope they were paid well!) and the Hogwarts building we were traveling through had plenty of “magical” paintings that moved – just like in the books and movies. I had a lot of fun in line seeing how they designed the experience.

As for the ride itself – it was a lot of fun. It combined the feeling of Disney’s Haunted Mansion with the movement and virtual reality feel of Back to the Future. It was really well done, and even better to be able to experience it with Kuniko. Maybe after a few years we can head back and try it again.

Next we moved at a more sedate pace, looking through the shops around the Harry Potter village, trying butterbeer (non-alcoholic) and taking pictures of the scenery. They really designed the surrounding area well, with tons of tiny details that you might miss if you rushed through.

One thing that struck me while walking around USJ was the fact that they really focused on friendly staff and good customer service. Every staff member smiled, waved, or struck up conversations when possible, and as an American it felt good. Customer service in Japan is always very polite and very helpful, but it is rare to get a smile or any sort of small talk. I always give Japanese customer service full points for professionalism; the scores for warmth are quite a bit lower. This visit to USJ really illustrated the difference for me.

For us, the Harry Potter ride was the main attraction, and there wasn’t anything else that was a high priority. We walked through slowly, but before long we walked by the “Flying Dinosaur” attraction and I decided that I totally wanted to ride it. Kuniko noped out of there (she’s not a big roller coaster person), and instead was walking around while I lined up. The good news was that as a single rider I could get in a special line, and I bypassed most of the waiting time. In the end it took about 30-40 minutes to get to the front of the line. Not bad!

And when I say I got to the front, I really did – they put me in the front row of the roller coaster. The coaster is designed to hold you upright when you board, but then the seats rotate from vertical to horizontal, so you are looking straight down at the ground. From there you fly at remarkably fast speeds and being in the front made it that much more dramatic. As we rode up to the first drop, I could see Kuniko down below, waving and holding a giant turkey leg, so I had some big motivation to survive the experience. A father and his two young sons were strapped in next to me, and they had just as much fun as I did swooping through the loops and turns. We exchanged goofy grins when it was over – a great example of building comradeship through adversity.

Back on the ground Kuniko was waiting with a big smile and a turkey leg, and she said later that I was so excited about the ride – riding a big wave of adrenaline. The turkey leg was great, and we soon moved on to look at the rest of the park.

There were some other new attractions for me. The newest one was a ride based on the Minions characters from Despicable Me, but we decided to skip it because of the huge line and the huge amount of kids waiting for it. We stopped at a restaurant with outside seating and I went inside to wait in line for a couple of cold beers. After finally getting those, we sat outside and did some people watching and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was blue skies and warm temperatures, which felt good after the long winter.

With nothing else much to do, we made a couple of stops to see if we could find Kuniko’s student who was working at the park. Unfortunately she was inside one of the attractions and we didn’t want to wait two hours just to say thank you, so we left the park itself, and went back to the City Walk area between the park and the train station.

The City Walk area is special because the restaurants that are featured there are a mix of the usual Japanese chain restaurants and also some very rare American chains. For example, at USJ you can eat at Red Lobster or Bubba Gump’s. In America I didn’t really get excited about eating at either one of those places, but after living in Japan for 15 years suddenly they seem a lot more interesting. Kuniko and I went into Bubba Gump’s for a small lunch, and it was like stepping back into the USA for a moment. The staff sat us down in the empty restaurant, and we ordered up a blue cheese salad and some Cajun boiled shrimp. The staff warned us that the shrimp could be spicy, but they were not spicy at all – we had to request Tabasco sauce to finish them off. I drank a Budweiser (ha!) and we answered the Forrest Gump trivia question posed to us by the staff.  I really wondered what they did all day – it was obviously not a popular place. Most people who enter USJ are not allowed re-entry if they leave, so I guess the restaurant staff are waiting for a dinner rush once people leave the park.

To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with the food that we had. I noticed how much of the food on the menu was fried, and seeing the ratio of dressing and bacon to greens on our salad made me realize exactly what made this place “American”. Still, it was good to be back if only for a short lunch. It might be a longer time before we return.

With lunch out of the way we caught a train back to Osaka Umeda, and then took the Kyoto line from Osaka to Yamazaki, in order to join a tour and tasting at the Suntory Yamazaki distillery.

The Yamazaki distillery was in the news a few years ago because a single malt whisky made there outperformed some big Scotch producers in a tasting in Scotland, and the Japanese are understandably proud of the achievement. Unfortunately the downside to this is that it has become really tough to find a bottle of Yamazaki whisky, even in Japan. The prices have shot through the roof, stores are sold out, and online some bottles are starting at $100. We had a few bottles of Yamazaki before they became rare, but we’ve been holding on to our last one – taking sips only on special occasions.

So it was good to go to the actual distillery and see the process. If you’ve been paying attention you’ll remember that we went to the Ararat distillery in Armenia last summer, the Hennessy distillery in Cognac three years ago, and plenty of wineries in between. So we thought it would be interesting to see how the tours compared. Getting a tour at Yamazaki is not easy – we had to make a reservation several months in advance, and it was only available on a weekday (hence the timing of our days off) so it was with great anticipation that we got off the train at Yamazaki station and walked to the distillery.

It was only a short walk through a very small town. On such a nice day with the cherry trees blooming in the background it was nice to stroll through a peaceful old Japanese village. There wasn’t much else around, and I imagine most people who live there commute into Kyoto, which was just a few minutes train ride to the east.

The distillery is marked by a very dramatic black and white building, probably called modern back in 1960, and there is heavy security to enter. We stopped at the front gate, confirmed our reservations, paid the fee (1000 yen each – about $10) and received security badges on straps. Since we had arrived a little early we walked around the grounds, went through the museum, and then went into a well-designed tasting area to try some whisky.

The tasting menu was a paid tasting, but quite reasonable. You could taste small samples (15 mL) of everything they made, and most tastings were just 100 yen. We did a tasting of regular Yamazaki, 12 year old Yamazaki and also 25 year old Yamazaki. We also tried a Hibiki 17 year old “smoky” whisky.  They served the tasting glasses with a big glass of water which was very much appreciated. We sat at a wooden table shared with some other people and went through the tasting. Of course we liked the 25 year old Yamazaki the best – it figures that we’d like the most expensive one. It was interesting to taste the differences and side by side they were much more apparent.

When our tour time came up we gathered at the meeting point and followed a tour guide through the distillery, seeing the stills, barrels, and grounds. The distillery was exceptionally clean and beautifully maintained – obviously Suntory put a lot of money into the place. The tour ended at a dedicated tasting area (similar in design and style to the one we visited in Porto at Graham’s). The tasting part of the tour was surprisingly comprehensive and they served us four glasses of whisky. The first two were whiskys that are not released on their own – one aged in white oak barrels and the other aged in used sherry barrels – both of which are used for blending to make the final Yamazaki single malt. The next glass was a small sample of the flagship Yamazaki, and the final glass held a really big slug of the same thing – Yamazaki single malt.

We tasted the first three with the tour guide, and she tried to explain the blending decisions and what the distillers are looking for when making a single malt whisky. During this time we sniffed and sipped, and they had a basket of crackers, nuts and chocolates for us to balance things out.

The final glass – the big slug of whisky – was used in a demonstration on how to pour a perfect highball.  The highball has become more and more popular in Japan, largely driven by a huge marketing push by Suntory and Nikka. Here the staff showed us how to make the cocktail, and we used sparkling Yamazaki spring water (the same stuff they use for their whisky making) to finish the cocktail. It was certainly the most expensive highball I have ever had – and it seemed almost a waste to blend the Yamazaki whisky with sparkling water over ice. It was good, but I think I prefer my whisky neat.

With that we finished the tour and tasting, and they dropped us off (of course) in the gift shop. It was hard to believe that the whole experience cost just 1000 yen.  We did end up buying a special limited edition Yamazaki bottle in the tasting room – the only one they had available, so I guess the tasting ended up being profitable for them. Later on Saturday we tasted the whisky and we were very satisfied – as Steve Coursey would say, “It’s a good drop!”

Since we were so close to Kyoto, we had decided to finish up the night with a nice dinner out in the big city. Kuniko’s friend had recommended a Spanish restaurant called El Fogon, and so we took a train to the busy Kyoto station and then walked from there.

The place had a nice atmosphere – more traditional than modern – and we sat upstairs and ordered from the menu. We chose a dish of garbanzo beans and spinach in a paprika sauce, a mixed plate of tapas, and then a grilled pork dish that sounded delicious. The first two dishes were a hit – really well done and rich in flavor, and we sipped some nice red wines while enjoying them. The meat dish took a surprisingly long time to reach our table, however, and we were starting to get a little worried. When the meat arrived it was actually a little cool – and there was some aluminum foil embedded in part of the meat which is always a bad sign. The cut of pork was a little fatty, which I don’t mind when it is served seared and piping hot, but unfortunately cold fatty meat is less than appetizing.

What saved the meal was my last drink order – a sweet sherry made from the Pedro Ximenez grape. Long ago I had misunderstood that Pedro Ximenez was a winery, not a grape, so it was a learning experience for me, too. The sherry was sweet, of course, but it had a big mouth-filling impact and it was a sensuous experience – so good. The next day we called the restaurant and got the name of the maker, and I ordered a bottle online. It was that good.

Despite the sherry being so good we were a little depressed about the pork dish, so we walked a couple of blocks to a restaurant we hadn’t visited in a long time – an Italian bar kind of place with a focus on wine. It is called La Shull-Shull, and we sat at the bar to have some olives and a quick pasta dish. We settled on the porcini and cream pasta, and while we waited the master served us red wine by the glass.  We had different ones, and mine was a pinot noir from Romania, which was a first for me. It was pretty good, too – which means that we’ll have to pay a visit to the area someday.

The porcini pasta knocked our socks off – with giant slices of porcini mushroom soaked in the rich, creamy sauce.  It was a great way to wrap up the day.

From there it was a long ride home on the special rapid train, and we took a short taxi ride from Nishi Akashi to our home to save a little time and get to bed that much earlier. We were tuckered out!

Even though the big day was over, we still had a couple of events left on the weekend. Saturday we were invited over to the Yamaji’s place for a lunch on their patio next to their little cherry tree, which was blossoming at just the right time. We ate some good food with the Fukumi’s, the Yamaji’s, and their sushi-making friend who came all the way out from Osaka to join us before going back to work that evening. Hiroka was pretty active during lunch, chasing around insects and making various demands that his parents hurried to meet. The big conversation topic was that the Fukumi’s were selected to be neighborhood representatives this year, which is really tough for them considering their working situation.

There is a whole blog post here about how the system of neighborhood associations is outdated and a waste of time, but I’ll save that for later. The Fukumi’s left early to try to negotiate with some other neighborhood residents and maybe escape some of the responsibilities. I hope it works out for them. We have to go through the same thing in a couple of years, and our strategy will be to put me forward as the representative and then I’ll pretend I don’t speak a word of Japanese (in Japan among foreigners it is called “playing the gaijin card”). We are both working, and the amount of duties and responsibilities are really overwhelming, and designed to be handled by a housewife at home with plenty of free time – not for a busy dual income household.

Anyway, the party was a success, and we filled up on sushi, barbecue, beer and wine. The next day we got up and went off to Akashi to see the cherry blossoms there. We had some coffee and sat on a bench and enjoyed our own quiet little party. The weather was still warm but a little hazy, so the pictures of the cherry blossoms didn’t come out quite as nicely as they would with a big blue sky. Still, we’ve got plenty of pictures of cherry blossoms already so no big deal.

We capped off the four day weekend with a small barbecue at home – roasting peppers, mushrooms and onions out on the grill while sipping vinho verde and snacking on Manchego cheese. It was a really busy long weekend, but we are pretty refreshed and ready to get a new school term started from this week.

In order to celebrate Kuniko’s birthday, we had made a plan in February to head to Hakata, a district in the big city of Fukuoka in Kyushu, in order to partake in the food culture there. When someone mentions Hakata, the conversation inevitably leads to food. Being pretty hardcore foodies ourselves we wanted to taste it firsthand. In a sort of coincidental discovery, Kuniko had come across an article on the internet describing a Chinese restaurant in Hakata that served what they called a “dai-rompo” – a bigger version of one of our favorite dim sum dishes, “sho-rompo” (“dai” means big and “sho” means small) so that served as an anchor for the trip.

In advance of the trip in February we booked bullet train tickets and a hotel, and then while trying to make a reservation at the “dai-rompo” restaurant they told us that their Chinese chef was planning a trip home to China for the Chinese New Year, and the restaurant would be closed during our planned visit. We are so serious about food that we rescheduled the bullet train tickets and the hotel, and shifted the whole trip to March, instead.

So it was with great anticipation that we got out of bed very early on Saturday morning and took the first train out to Nishi Akashi station, and then caught a bullet train southwest to the “third” island of Japan, Kyushu.

On the train there was sort of a party atmosphere – most people were traveling for sightseeing and fun – and we couldn’t resist buying a couple of Minoh beers from the passing vendor trolley. We’ve been a fan of Minoh Beer for a long time – Yoshi and I even paid a visit to the tiny brewery for a tour and tasting – so it was sort of an imperative to drink their limited edition pale ale (with cute little bullet trains on the label) while traveling at high speed towards culinary bliss.

Traveling in Japan always feels a little too “easy” for me. We can speak the language, our phones can access the internet at all times, and we are exploring one of the safest countries in the world. So although I get the sense of travel, I also feel a little like we’re just on a regular old shopping trip. Going into Hakata station I felt just like going into Osaka station – except everyone stood on the escalator in the opposite side.

Our first stop was for beef tongue and (another) morning beer at a place right inside the station. Kuniko did all the research for this trip, and she billed this place as one of the only places we could eat and drink before lunchtime near the station (the “and drink” is the important part of this requirement). There was already a pretty long line of people waiting to get in, so we lined up and put in some waiting time. The tongue was great – sliced into thin strips and grilled, with some local side dishes and slices of lemon. We negotiated the dishes without the rice (which is apparently an unusual request) and then dug in. The “morning beer” turned out to be a tiny beer served in the morning, so we ended up with another round of those, and then we were feeling damn good walking out of the restaurant and ready to explore a new city.

Fukuoka (and the Hakata area within it) is a port town, just like Kobe and Osaka, and so was subject to more foreign influence than other Japanese cities over time. It felt very similar to what we are used to where we live, from the rivers running through the town, to the large groups of Korean and Chinese tours, and everything was laid out to make it easy to perambulate.

Kuniko led us through a fairly regimented schedule of delicious foods based on hours and hours of extensive research. Rather than eat full meals at each place we did spot ordering to be able to enjoy more variety without overfilling our poor tummies. It wasn’t all food, though – we got in some shrines, gardens and temples, and we even made a journey into Buddhist hell. More on that later.

We ate gyoza in an interesting café at the top of a shopping mall, which apparently was serving a Chinese lunch buffet. Although purportedly a Chinese restaurant it felt more like a modern Italian bar, but they had no problems serving us only a big plate of gyoza and some beer to wash them down. The gyoza here was rated number one in the city by the citizens of Fukuoka (not quite sure about the validity of the voting system) and they were certainly delicious. The wrappers of the gyoza we ate on this trip were generally thicker than the wrappers we normally eat in Kansai. I liked the thicker wrappers, Kuniko preferred the thinner ones. The thicker wrappers did absorb a lot more oil however, so I fear we went over the recommended daily calorie intake after the first two bites.

Other stops on Saturday included a few supermarkets, a standing bar to sip sparkling and taste the local oden variation, and a beautiful expansive park surrounded a lake in the center of the city. We sat on some benches and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather. It felt good after what seemed like a long winter. Finally the time had come to make the pilgrimage to our main event – the dai-rompo. We found the restaurant, Marco Kitchen, which had an odd sort of atmosphere more like a coffee shop, and our server (who had a very un-Japanese mohawk haircut and small bones pushed through his earlobes) led us to our table. We were the first customers of what looked like many to come – they had slips of paper on the table for all the upcoming reservations that night.

We kept things simple, with a couple of warmup gyoza, a few crab and shrimp shumai, and then the server brought over a big basket and we could behold the splendor of the dai-rompo. Our Mohican/Japanese server seemed to sense our excitement with the event (maybe the scramble for my camera tipped him off) and he placed the basket in front of us with a dramatic flair, and then kindly served each dai-rompo into a small bowl in front of us. He picked up the softball-sized soup dumpling with just two chopsticks and a lot of confidence, and when the dai-rompo was lifted the bottom of the dumpling bulged and strained downward under the weight of all the soup inside. Luckily we could go to work on the dai-rompo while it was safely in a bowl. It was a fun experience to eat a new dish, and try to figure out the best way to go about it. With sho-rompo we bite into the edge, suck out all the steaming hot soup, and then swallow the rest in one go. Obviously the traditional technique wasn’t going to work here, but we ended up breaking the wrapper and then eating the rest as if it was a wonton soup or something similar. Fun, delicious, and well worth the effort it took to make it happen.

From there we went back out into Hakata to see what else the city had to offer. Walking past a video arcade I saw a huge display of “Space Invaders” – a ten foot tall screen and two “laser” guns mounted several feet in front with seats. We had to play it – and it was a blast. It was called “Space Invaders Frenzy” and it was a great combination of retro-nostalgic graphics, LED lights and frantic twitch gaming. Out on the riverside we wanted to try the food stands that are a symbol of the food culture in Hakata, and so we walked along an area that was lined with about 10-12 temporary restaurants outdoors. We love eating outside when we travel, and it was nice to give it a try in Japan. For some reason it really hasn’t caught on in Japan (maybe because of the extreme weather in winter and summer) so it was a rare chance. We chose a place at random, and were immediately surprised how brusque and decidedly un-friendly our Japanese cooks were. They had a sort of “rough” feeling about them, and I wondered vaguely if there was an organized crime angle here that I didn’t know about. Didn’t stop us from eating more food though, and we ordered some yakiramen (basically fried noodles, no soup) and some tamagoyaki with spicy cod roe rolled up inside. Washed down with two beers and then we were on our way. We probably would have stayed longer if the atmosphere had been more friendly, but hospitality was not the priority at this particular food stand. They were probably grumpy because customers always leave after just one dish.

That night we ended up at two more places – again, just picking and choosing specific dishes and then moving on. We had bite-sized gyoza at a place called Tetsunabe. These gyoza were much smaller than the ones we had eaten earlier in the day (still can’t believe this was all in the same day), and the thick wrappers had kind of fused together during cooking making it hard to divide them into the aforementioned bite size.

Our last stop was at an izakaya with a unique ordering system. At the front of the restaurant you paid for slips of paper that correspond with the dish you want at a digital machine using cash, take the slips to the kitchen (or the bar, depending on what you ordered) and then the staff handed over your food and/or drink when it was ready. It was really cheap, with a lively atmosphere and I had a good time there. The food was salty and simple and really about promoting more drinking which at this stage we were happy to do. Good times!

So we did a little more drunken shopping at the local convenience store, took a couple of painkillers and some stomach settling medicine just in case, and then crashed out in our business hotel for the evening.

We woke up fairly early with our stomachs still full from the previous day’s food-a-thon. It was a very long and very high calorie day, but we were pleased to discover that according to our phone we had managed to offset the damage a little with 33,000 steps for the day.

As you might expect we had a little slower start to the day, and we began by taking a short train ride out of town to visit the Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine – a famous shrine that attracts people because of its founder’s philosophy of education and success. We didn’t have any particular educational requirements to overcome however the location proved to be a great place to see plum blossoms. The street approaching the shrine was lined with shops, many of them selling umegae-mochi – sweet beans wrapped in mochi and then fried inside a pancake griddle until browned. Even with my full stomach I was able to pack down a couple of those.

The founder of Dazaifu Tenmangu was a big fan of plum trees, and it showed. We enjoyed walking around seeing the different colors and stages of the blossoms, and also petting metal cows and photographing a demonic unicorn statue. Things were interesting around the shrine.

We spent a while strolling through the grounds, we sent a little prayer up to the god of education, and then wandered back down the shopping street to the main train station. Believe it or not I felt like I could eat a hot bowl of noodles, so we stepped into Ichiran, a local chain of ramen restaurants that recently made the jump to the national level. They have a unique serving system that was more memorable than the noodles we ate there.

After buying a ticket we sat down at an individual booth with walls on the side and a small curtain in front. Imagine eating lunch in a voting booth and you get the general idea. The curtain opens at some point, and two arms come out of the curtain and point out various things including some paperwork to fill out so that you receive the noodles exactly the way you want them. I started on my paperwork and the arms disappeared and the curtain closed, while the female staff behind the curtain said that what was happening behind the curtain “is a secret”.

After finishing more paperwork than I typically associate with a bowl of noodles the disembodied arms reappeared to take the information away and there was nothing left to do but stare at the curtain and wait for the food. It didn’t take long, and soon Kuniko and I were slurping noodles side by side in our respective voting booths, with both the design of the booth and the mouthfuls of noodles preventing any sort of conversation. It was an interesting system, but the noodles didn’t seem all that special to me. I guess I’m not a big ramen fan in general.

Back to Hakata, and this time we walked from the train station, through what seemed to be a red-light district, and then found our way to Tochoji Temple. Kuniko led the way inside where we could see the largest wooden Buddha in Japan (sorry, no pictures allowed). The workmanship of the Buddha was detailed and exceptionally done. I stood for a long time admiring the lines and creases of the wood that formed the serene face.

The real treat was behind the Buddha, as there was an exhibit explaining the concept of hell as described by some Buddhist texts, which turned out to be being cast into the darkness. You had the opportunity to walk through total darkness, with only a handrail to guide you to the end. I assume in real hell you don’t get the handrail.

I walked into the situation with none of this knowledge, so I had to kind of figure this out later. We walked through the darkness, and Kuniko quickly went out ahead of me. I was much slower, and used my right hand to wave around in front of me and perhaps prevent any major collisions or demon attacks. About halfway through my hand hit a metal ring attached to the wall at about waist level, and I thought it an odd sort of thing to run into in the dark. Later Kuniko asked me if I had found the ring – she hadn’t – and I realized that apparently there was a goal to the exercise other than to merely escape. Buddhist hell was pretty cool.

Our last stop in Hakata was back at the train station. We had tickets on an early afternoon slow bullet train back home, so we did some souvenir shopping for the neighbors. With about a half hour to kill before departure we stopped at an odd little gyoza place that served gyoza with cilantro and gyoza with plum sauce, and cheap sparkling wine by the glass. Our server poured the glasses to the top which was nice, but as we were leaving we discovered two cockroaches running around behind us which was not so nice. I think the server realized what had happened and she looked a little broken hearted.

Before boarding the slower bullet train we picked up some beer and a lunch box stuffed with interesting things we rarely eat (deep fried pork cutlet wrapped in sushi rice? Sure!) and then caught a ride home. The slower train had much bigger seats, so I even got in some sleep on the way back.  There was a rare power outage somewhere down the bullet train line leading to an hour delay – something pretty unusual in Japan – but we had enough beer and food to avoid starvation.

Fukuoka was nice, and I think we got a good sense of the area and the food culture there. I guess we’ll need to put our mind to the problem of which city in Japan we need to visit next. Back to the internet for some more food research!