Day 4: Kobe to Osaka

I had planned to blog about the fabulous dinner we had at an Italian restaurant in Osaka, but alas, the restaurant we wanted to visit is closed on Mondays.

We had a busy day in Kobe before our short drive to Osaka, once again proving that the four of us are sorely lacking in anything that resembles Japanese navigation skills. Our plan was to assault a short trail leading from the Shin-Kobe train station to a waterfall, but we abandoned our idea when we reached an incomprehensible fork in the trail a few hundred yards into the hike.

We headed back to the train station and, over my objections of cheating, took a tram (called a ropeway here) to the top of a hill above Kobe, which took us past said waterfall. Luke agreed to walk back down the hill with me, and we passed the fabulous sight in the picture below:

Nunobiki Falls in Kobe

Nunobiki Falls in Kobe (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Now knowing the route, we dashed back to the train station and found John and Leo sipping beers in a café. Leo wouldn’t budge, but I pulled John away and we ran up to the falls and back again, just in time for John to finish his beer and for us to catch the shuttle back to the hotel for our 2pm departure.

I rode with John to Osaka in his 1928 Plymouth Roadster. The Roadster by definition has no windows, so he installed some coverings made from clear plastic and cloth to keep at bay the rain that started to fall just before we left. This worked fine until I had to pay a toll; the makeshift windows don’t roll down, and opening and closing the doors on the Roadster requires about three hands — not something I wanted to try with impatient drivers piling up behind me. I managed to give the toll taker our money by pushing my hand and a 1000 yen bill through a crack between the window and the door. Here’s a picture of the wet drive to Osaka:

View from the 1928 Plymouth Roadster: Kobe to Osaka

View from the 1928 Plymouth Roadster: Kobe to Osaka (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Tomorrow we’re planning to visit a transportation museum in Osaka (if we can find it, of course) and then we’ll head to Otsu.