June 20th - Sunday

We're off this morning to Takayama, which John has assured us is a wonderful destination, Our last breakfast in the Best Inn includes an omelet, sausage, soup, rice, spinach, pasta shells salad and tea. Andy meets us at 9:00 and we go to the station where he leaves his bike. It looks like all the other bikes, of which there are a zillion. His has a bright green lock to make it distincive.

It is a beautiful train ride to Takayama, passing through countryside with many rice paddies and small vegetable gardens. After stopping at the tourist information window, we have a pretty good idea where our hotel, the Rickshaw Inn, is located and we only miss the mark by about half a block. On the walk to see this statue of a golfer; you may know that golf is a favorite pass time of Japanese business men. I can't post the shot from the other side. I don't know everyone who might be reading this!

The Rickshaw Inn is a traditional Japanese Inn which means that you can only wear your shoes so far before you have to change to outdoor slippers. Then you change to indoor slippers and you aren't even supposed to wear those on the tatami mats!

We have a "suite" for four which means that there is a sitting room kind of space with a table and four chairs and two couches and a raised sleeping area with four futons and duvets. The sliding room reveals an alcove with a sink, a separate room for the w.c. and a separate Japanese bath room with a tub and a large area next to it for showering if you plan to soak in the tub afterwards. Andy explains that the plastic stool is to sit on while you wash and you can fill the bucket with water to pour over your head. The suite is gorgeous and the table has cups and goodies for tea and coffee and there is a machine to keep water hot so tea can be available in an instant! A word about the toilet - there is a faucet on top! When you flush the water comes out of the faucet and flows downward into the toilet. How clever!! Also, all the toilets in Japan have two different flushes, just like in Scandinavia, depending on what you did!

Andy has a room upstairs because that was cheaper than having him in our room! How strange!