The kids piked out on skiing today cos it is raining a bit. The rain probably turn the snow to slush. There is about $300 worth odf ski hire and lift pass that wont get used.
Asan alternative I suggested we go to Matsumoto Castle. They thought it would be good so that is what we did. It was a 45 min walk to the traino then 2 hr in the train and 1/2hr walk to the castle. Matsumoto is over 400 years old and is the biggest 5 tier donjon castle in Japan. It was pretty interesting but a bit hard to negotiate. The stairways were all very steep and the steps were tall so made it hard for Ash. Of course that was the reason the stairs are like that, all old places like this have steep stairs so invaders couldnt run up them. It was a pretty uneventful day really but a long one cos we had the reverse 3hr trip home again.
We got home a little late to go to Goryu for night skiing so the kids went for dinner and I went to check out Happo for night skiing. I was really keen to try night skiing and Happo looked OK. I was a little iffy about skiing in the rain but thought I would give it a go. I walked all the way back to the hotel and got my ski's and carried them up the hill to the ski area. Put my gear on, that is a mission, and went to get a lift pass. I was trying to swap 4 day passes for 1 night pass but they said "not for night skiing" I said "4 for 1 night pass" he got someone else who said "not for night skiing" as if I didnt understand the first time. OK I went to pay and they put the price up from 2000 to 2500. That was a little steep for me, I wasnt sure I could handle the slope or the weather, so I told them to shove it. I had to take everything off and carry it all the way back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we are off to Tokyo on the bullit train (shinkansen).