Tuesday, April 5th: Kanazawa
Posted a big box in the mail today, with a mix of stuff for Erci and I, and for Dan and Jeff. Checked out of Swissotel Nankai and caught the Limited Express Thunderbird for Kanazawa. The trip into Fukai and then Ishikawa prefectures was very interesting, a dramatic change of scenery from the heavily urban Kinki region. Kanazawa station is amazingly modern with a huge semi-enclosed space for waiting on busses and taxis (they must get some serious weather here). It is unseasonably warm here now (about 70 degrees F) and sunny.
Caught a van taxi to the Kanazawa Excel Hotel Tokyu in Kohrinbo district, then walked around the Nagamachi (old samurai house district) and visited the Saihitsuan Kaga Yuzen work-shop and museum (¥300) to see silk kimono hand painted and dyed. We saw stunningly beautiful fabrics, then had dinner at an Italian cafe in the Prego shopping court (it's moniker is "a bit of Europe in Kanazawa"). The chef at the cafe was clearly influenced by Ferran Adrià, the chef at el Bulli, with lots of fun dishes. We capped that off with Gelato from a different place on the way back to the hotel.
Caught a van taxi to the Kanazawa Excel Hotel Tokyu in Kohrinbo district, then walked around the Nagamachi (old samurai house district) and visited the Saihitsuan Kaga Yuzen work-shop and museum (¥300) to see silk kimono hand painted and dyed. We saw stunningly beautiful fabrics, then had dinner at an Italian cafe in the Prego shopping court (it's moniker is "a bit of Europe in Kanazawa"). The chef at the cafe was clearly influenced by Ferran Adrià, the chef at el Bulli, with lots of fun dishes. We capped that off with Gelato from a different place on the way back to the hotel.
