It's crunch day for Wales and our last in Kanazawa. We have run out of time in our accommodation and we can't extend by another day so I must book a hotel near the station for one night to allow us to watch both the Wales v France and South Africa v Japan matches. In the morning we shall be heading north towards Sapporo. Because we are staying here an extra night we have to rebook our tickets. Whilst doing this we discovered that the route has been altered because of damage to the track by the recent typhoon. On asking when the track would be repaired, the answer was 25. I thought six years, must be very serious but of course I wasn't thinking Japanese. The answer was in four days time!
A short taxi ride took us to our overnight hotel. By pure serendipity we discovered that the only other public place screening the rugby live in the city was the Irish bar. This is next door bar one to our new hotel.
There's time before kick off so we can head into the town to visit the large indoor market. Called Omni-cho market it is a bustling warren of fishmongers, greengrocers, restaurants and clothing shops. Have a look and check the prices. There's 140 Yen to the GBP, so Y1000 is about £7. Oh and you can see Helen in the first picture modelling her blue body condom. Maybe that's why all the punters seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.
This shop specializes in oysters. I buy them at Brancaster. The big ones are about 50 pence each.
The prices are per oyster, not per kilogram. The crabs are a bit pricier.
Here is a stall that specializes in wild mushrooms. We bought a boat shaped slice of melon for Y350, the whole melons were on offer for between Y1200 and Y1600.
You can also shop in malls such as this. Gucci's is on the immediate right. Prices were however a little higher.
From here we walked to the beautiful Gyokusen Inmaru gardens. These were originally private gardens for the castle and begun in 1634 but by the Meiji period they were abandoned. Reconstruction was started in 2010 and took 5 years. They now perform a son et lumiere every weekend evening. Spending time just listening to the music and concentrating on the garden and light was very rewarding.
A short taxi ride took us to our overnight hotel. By pure serendipity we discovered that the only other public place screening the rugby live in the city was the Irish bar. This is next door bar one to our new hotel.
There's time before kick off so we can head into the town to visit the large indoor market. Called Omni-cho market it is a bustling warren of fishmongers, greengrocers, restaurants and clothing shops. Have a look and check the prices. There's 140 Yen to the GBP, so Y1000 is about £7. Oh and you can see Helen in the first picture modelling her blue body condom. Maybe that's why all the punters seemed to have mysteriously disappeared.
This shop specializes in oysters. I buy them at Brancaster. The big ones are about 50 pence each.
The prices are per oyster, not per kilogram. The crabs are a bit pricier.
Here is a stall that specializes in wild mushrooms. We bought a boat shaped slice of melon for Y350, the whole melons were on offer for between Y1200 and Y1600.
You can also shop in malls such as this. Gucci's is on the immediate right. Prices were however a little higher.
From here we walked to the beautiful Gyokusen Inmaru gardens. These were originally private gardens for the castle and begun in 1634 but by the Meiji period they were abandoned. Reconstruction was started in 2010 and took 5 years. They now perform a son et lumiere every weekend evening. Spending time just listening to the music and concentrating on the garden and light was very rewarding.
This is a wider angle shot than the one above which is covering the centre area between the purple illuminated walls. Obviously the camera is struggling with the available light and the focus is not crisp but I hope it conveys the atmosphere.
A little bit earlier in the day Helen was tempted by the latest craze in this creative city. It is exactly what it looks like. Soft scoop ice cream with sweets attached and covered in a sheet of pure gold leaf. Gold is of course inert. That means it does not react with anything. It does not taste or smell, neither is it ingested, it just passes through. Gold is however a recognized food additive (you may have encountered "Gelt Wasser" vodka) and has an E number which is E175.
Talking of creativity the city has erected some interesting sculptures. Here is an example. I called it "don't get your knickers in a twist ", other suggestions are "the Brexit knot", "just a runaway line", "Ouch", and "Knot a good idea". Well done the suggesters, any other comments are welcome.
I said at the start that it was crunch day for Wales who are due to play France in the quarter finals of the World Cup. So it was back to the Irish bar and the crowds. Entry charge was Y1000 for which you got in, a drink and a bowl of nibbles. We squeezed in and next to us was a group of French supporters. Also in the bar were a couple of South Africans, an English pair and an Aussie. I was the only Welsh. The rest were all Japanese fans. The game was very tight with the French starting much the better but the Welsh fought back. A French sending off should have blown it for them but they hung on. It was wasn't until the last few minutes that Wales scored a converted try to earn a one point victory. Bravo La France quelle domage! I was treated like a hero in the pub. High Fives all round as if was personally responsible. What a relief.
There was also Japan v South Africa and again all the Japanese supporters were incredibly excited and enthusiastic but sadly the almost inevitable outcome occurred. Japan went down bravely and gave the Boks a real run for their money. What a wonderful effort from a team who gave everything they had and played the most exciting and skilful rugby. Now Wales will get their two more matches but which final will it be?
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