We walked out of our hotel directly into the labyrinthine subway below. Armed with a fistful of maps and instructions we set about trying to get ourselves over to the other side of Osaka for our Duck Tour. We nearly fell at the first hurdle, as we were trying to get our tickets in the railway station hall when we should have been a couple of floors down in the subway station hall but we found the right place eventually. Having successfully negotiated buying the correct tickets from the machine we made our way what seemed like several miles to the pink Sennichimae line. We even managed to change trains at the right place and ended up at Temnabashi, hope you are impressed!

We located the correct exit and walked alongside the river for a short distance until we reached the Hachikenya Beach Port where checked in for our tour on the amphibious 'Duck'. We had plenty of time so went for some lunch in the Green Cafe in the same building overlooking the Okawa River. We had a Japanese Setto lunch, which turned out to be pizza and mushroom soup! Delicious, though not very Japanese, and we welcomed the opportunity to get warm again as we were very cold after our short walk from the station.

At the appointed time we boarded the Duck for our tour on land and water. We were already wearing several layers but they gave us another coat to wear on top and boy, did we need it! The vehicle is open and we were soon chilled to the bone. Nevertheless it was a great way to see the sights, with great views of the spectacular exterior of Osaka castle before we went onto the river, and once afloat we saw the Osaka Mint, the impressive station and many parks and buildings along the water's edge. As we passed by our port of embarkation we were urged to admire our reflection in the glass exterior of the building, apparently this is a highlight of the trip!! Our tour guide spoke no English but was a very jolly lady and had the punters in fits of laughter most of the time ... a lot of it at our expense, we suspected!

The tour was a little shorter than normal, possibly to avoid the risk of losing guests to hypothermia, and we were quite glad to disembark and get a chance to warm up again, but not before having our photo taken with a small yellow plastic duck, a compulsory feature of the tour, apparently. We stopped at a coffee shop in the station and drank delicious hot chocolate which had the desired warming effect ... in spite of the huge dollop of very cold cream on top!!

Back in Namba we went out in search of our evening meal, something warming to fend off the cold. We found ourselves in a local Standing Bar, chosen mainly because they offered an English menu ... but when we pointed to items in English they didn't know what they were, so we just pointed anyway. A Standing Bar is just what it says, no place to sit and you stand round the counter and eat your food items as they arrive. The heating was up full blast so we were soon toasty warm, enjoying our food and drinking cold Kirin beer before finishing up with hot Sake. We collected our nightcap beers from Lawson's as usual as a good day came to a close. Osaka, we love you!