Kobe revisited

 

Wednesday 5 July

Day 16

Today we were returning to Kobe, for bit more of a look around. As we knew it wasn’t a big trip, there was no sense of urgency this morning to be up and out. Turns out my missed gentle wake up yesterday did occur, I was just so beat that I missed it. Today I was awake by 715am and trying to find a tv station that I could semi interpret. 

We ate breakfast in bed, our standard; yogurt, banana and tea. After cleaning up and packing our bag, we made for the station. We were on the Himeji line for 930am. Not bad. This time we didn’t return to Shin-Osaka first!

Kobe is only 30km from Osaka and we were there for 10am. We knew the weather was due to change for midday, so I was keen to wander around down by the harbour before the rain would make things more challenging. We walked down a feeder road to the harbour passing a large giraffe statue and a statue of Elvis. We were a little perplexed as to why it was there. We passed marble statues of figures with weird antennae and then finally reached the Ferris wheel, which was completing the slowest rotation I have ever seen. 

We checked out the boardwalk and the various closed stores and took in the view across the water, to a large cruise ship that had docked. We followed the footpath around, opting to stop at Starbucks for a quick drink and snack. We watched a horde or works laying new turf around the cafe. It looked like they were doing it the hard way. We then stopped for a photo at the Be Kobe sign, before making our way to the Maritime Museum, which was now open.

Entry to the museum also gave us entry to Kawasaki Good Times World, which is what we were really here for. We entered the museum and wandered around the maritime area, taking in the models of various ships, some in bottles and other signage about Kobe Port. They had inter-actives, so I tried my hand at loading a ship container onto a truck and then sailing a ship through the harbour, I wasn’t very good. The poor attendant was always taking over and yelling at me to stay in the 0 to 10 range. 

We completed the lower level of the museum and then entered the Kawasaki museum. This was not all about bikes. Kawasaki industry has been creating many different types of machinery; bits for planes, helicopters, trains, the Shinkansen, tunnel excavators, cars and robotics. It was interesting to see the progression.

They had a small area dedicated to their motorcycles. Paul was happy to wander around and check out what was on display. We both sat on the 2 bikes they had out for show, before moving on to other machines. I had a go on the JetSki simulators and then watched a large model train set in action, before we returned to the entrance. 

As predicted, the rain had set in, so we dug out the umbrellas and made our way to Hop Stand, a little craft beer bar back at the main wharf. We took refuge from the wet weather and ordered from their set lunch menu, hunkering down for a while as we ate, drank and rested. 

 By 2pm we were ready to make our way back to Osaka. We returned to the station and caught the rapid train at 235pm. We trekked once again through the underground mall, before popping up outside our hotel, just after 3pm. As has become the norm, we returned to the room for an afternoon of quiet rest and relaxation. I prepped for tomorrow. Organising what to see and do during our last day in Osaka. 

By 6pm we were ready to head out into the rain once again. My head still needs to get use to the fact, that just because it is raining doesn’t mean it will be cold. Our destination was Beer Belly, somewhere we tried to come to on Sunday, but it was closed. Today it was open and we entered the little space and sat at the bar. Paul ordered his choice of beer and we sat watching the Japanese soccer league game on TV while eaves dropping on two New Yorkers. Paul had two beers, from Minoh Brewing, but wasn’t particularly impressed. 

We looked for another place and came across Craft Beer Bud on Google, so made our way in that direction. It took awhile to decipher the route that we needed to follow. Google dots change shades of colour when you enter buildings and I had to work out if we were supposed to be going up or down. In the end we actually found the place! 

We had a small selection of delicious food while Paul drank 2 pints, that he was far more impressed with. We spoke to the brewer, who spoke reasonably good English. Our only complaint was the annoying American who wanted to talk and talk and talk. 

Happy with our evening, we returned to the hotel for 920pm and bed. Unfortunately a very noisy family came home shortly after our lights went out. The kids were banging, screaming and running around outside. I am surprised Paul did not go and say something, as it didn’t stop until 11.20pm. We hope it doesn’t happen again.