Mainly travelling today. We ate breakfast in a Coffee House near our hotel and then caught a taxi to Kyoto Station. From there we took the Hikari Shinkansen to Nagoya and then the Shinano express to Nagano. On the way we passed through Ena again. Arriving at Nagano we managed to identify our hotel on the city map, a couple of blocks from the station. We are staying at the Smile Hotel and looking at the room plan we have one of the larger rooms. In the guide b...

Today we visited a couple of Kyoto's most famous sights. After having breakfast in a coffee house near our hotel we took a taxi to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, that is set in the grounds of the Rokuon-ji temple complex. Just after the gate there was a huge bell which you could ring for 200 yen. Almost straight away you come across the pavilion, across from the Kyoko-chi mirror pond. Made up of three floors the upper two are gilded with gold leaf, and it once ...

This morning we checked out of our hotel in Nagoya, but not before taking a picture of the emergency torch that every hotel room is meant to have in case of fire or earthquake. We caught the Skinkansen to Kyoto and then hailed a taxi to take us to the Kyoto Kokusai Hotel. It was right opposite Nijo-jo (the equivalent of the Tower of London) and quite a plush place. It reminded Joan of 1960's Bond films. Check- in was 1pm so we left our bags and crossed the road t...

Friday morning: made our way to Suzuka circuit which was easier than we thought as we caught the MIE train to Koba which stops at Suzuka Ino station. The race track is an easy 15 minute walk but it was extremely hot. At the circuit there was very little shade and we melt5ed slowly during 3 hours of free pracice. We walked half way round the course and saw many of its famous features. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted and cobbled a meal toget...

Back at the Ryokan Eishinkan, we were both feeling queasy though we hadn't swapped this info with each other. It was nearly 24 hours since we ate the meal at Oshima and had not eaten much since. On reflection we think there might have been some fish or shellfish stock in the meal which had made us ill. (When the hostess had brought the food to the table, the spinach had fish flakes on it - a common dressing in Japan.) Neither of us wanted to stray far, and it was...