Osaka

Our outing to Hiroshima was very cool and educational. The one thing we learned using our JR passes is that one should always try to get on the express or shinkansen. The time for the express was still an hour or so and we saw that another train was leaving sooner so we decided to take that one. Big mistake. It seemed to take forever since we had to stop at every station. We didn't save any time and it may have taken us longer.

By the time we arrived in Shin-Osaka, the kids were tired and wanted to go back to our apt in Kyoto. So we let them. They had a cell phone in case they ran into trouble. I'm really proud of them. It is a 15 minute train ride to Kyoto. They then would have to walk to another part of the station to catch the Kyoto subway and change once to a different line and then walk another 1/3 mile to the apt. And they did it. I think they even stopped at McDonalds for dinner along the way.

Hector and I decided to go to Osaka for dinner and sightseeing. I really like Osaka. It has a nice mix of big city energy while not being too large. I like their fun signage and food too.





There is smaller more intimate streets and goes all the way to big hustle and bustle with bigger crowds of people.













So many choices for food and I wanted to try them all but Osaka is know for their
okonomiyaki a savory pancake. At this point I don't seem to have any photos so I'll have to check with Hector if he has some on his camera.

I think we got a smaller version of two, a pork and green onion. We opted to have the kitchen cook ours although the locals will cook their own at the table. It was very tasty and filling.

Now that we've eaten, we can get to exploring. So much to see! I love the canals and bridges.











I got more excited at a French bulldog sighting!!








Looking for a landmark...getting closer.








There he is...Glico man!!




People love to pose the same in front of this billboard. Why? Because they can. 

That's probably the most asked question in Japan. Why, well why not? 

We ended up at Starbucks, a huge 2 storied attached with other stores so I could buy a Starbucks Osaka mug. I have small collection of the places I've been and I'm very selective, I don't want to get over run in mugs. 

This evening flew by and before we knew it, it was 11pm and we needed to catch the train back to Kyoto before we got stranded.