June 19th - part two

The visitors' center in the Gifu Station tells us about visiting the castle and also about the cormorant fishing for which the area is famous. Andy was going to try to make it here in time to see it but it looks like that will be impossible and we'd much rather visit with him that see birds being abused. There is a video running and seeing that is plenty good enough for us! It all happens in the evening by torch light and I don't see how we could have gotten decent pictures or even have really been able to see what was happening.

Did I mention the bunches and bunches of bikes everywhere?

It's fun to notice that the cormorants are used as a theme throughout the city. Tom, this one's for you!

Adjacent to Gifu Station is the 43 Building, so named because it has 43 floors. There is a special elevator that only stops at the top and the ride takes 48 seconds, according to Betsy's watch! The view of the city is lovely and it fun to notice that there is a mother giving her young daughters an art lesson. Down again and on to the castle.

WE catch the bus to the entry to the castle, watching for the gold man on a statue to mark our stop. Happily we also are following the route on the map or we might have missed it. The guy isn't quite as large as we had thought. After a bit of dithering we find out way in.

There is a "ropeway" to the castle, which turns out to mean a funicular, but after that there are about a gazillion steps carved into the side of the mountain or constructed from stone and pebbles. One flat stretch is notable because the ancient rulers used it to exercise their horses. I don't think it is as long as a football field and is no wider than fifteen or twenty feet! Maybe the horses were small, too.

Inside the castle there is a display or samurai armor and weapons and a discussion of the history of the castle and its rulers. The top floor has a view of the city below and since it will rain soon Ginger goes to the top first! Clever lady! It begins to drizzle after I get just a few shots and as it picks up momentum we decide to head back down, skipping the museum.

Nick and Ginger are a bit ahead of Betsy and me and so we are quite surprised to reach the bottom without seeing them! Turns out we came down the "up" but we never saw the other way to go! All's well that ends well and we are all pretty much equally wet. (Yes we have umbrellas, but that just means our heads and cameras are protected!)