Day 12 Kyoto to Osaka
The transport system here is astonishing. Kyoto to Osaka by
shinkansen took 12 minutes. A taxi was at the door and in 15 minutes we were at
our hotel. The trip in the taxi made Osaka look quite grey but once we dropped
our bags at the hotel and stepped out into the street, the colour and noise of
the city hit us like a slap in the face. There was street after street of food
and other retail shops, all competing for our attention ether with gigantic animated
models of the food or even larger multistorey video screens. We took refuge in
a second storey hamburger joint with a long picture window that gave us a panoramic view from the canal with
its riverside cafes across to the flashing retail area. Over a burger and chips
we watched humanity swirl beneath us.
When we ventured out we took a long walk through the melee
and down to the canal. It was a bit like Luna Park meets the Gold Coast complete
with a massive multistorey ferris wheel that was stapled onto the façade of a
building. Every now and then there was one of those crazy places where you put
money into a machine and it gives you a bit of utter rubbish in a plastic ball.
Johnny had to go in, but I explained that it was against my values and religion,
so I stayed outside, watching myself on the webcam opposite.
We took a long walk through the streets that alternated
between a screaming riot of colour and noise and laneways filled with humble
shops. We took a pitstop next to the canal and ordered an iced coffee. The rest
was really welcome. Then it was off to a model railway shop Johnny was keen to
visit. It was supposed to be one floor up so we took the escalator, but there
were only locked doors and no way to get back down. We knocked a few times,
then decided to go up a level and ask directions. It was actually up there and
it was an amazing place. They even had a huge layout maybe 10 metres long, that
you could try out locos. I had a quick look through but soon lost interest and
as there were no seats, settled down on the floor near the escalator. This let johnny with the freedom to have a
really good poke around and finally he found an engine he really wanted for his
layout. Perfect xmas present from me.
We took a route through the long shady malls, back to the
hotel, where check in was painless. Our room on the 12th floor was
compact but had everything you need for a couple of day stay. We kicked off our
shoes to give our feet a rest as by 4 we had to head out again for the the 3
hour food tour we had booked for.
