Osaka & Kobe

Josh & I woke up early & went for a walk to explore Osaka. I was excited when we found cherry blossoms, before the trip we had been told we were too late to see them.

We found hidden shrines nestled in quiet neighborhoods.

We had walked by this restruant & saw people eating breakfast, so we skipped out on the hotel breakfast in an attempt to be authentic. With some finger pointing & hand gestures we were able to order.

We loaded up on the bus & headed to Kobe. Our first stop was the Kikumasamune Sake museum, can't beat having sake first thing in the morning :)


Our next stop on the tour was the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake memorial park. In 1995, an earthquake struck Kobe killing over 6,000 people & destroyed the city. Being the worry wart that I am, this stop freaked me out! Our tour guide kept telling us, "the next big one will hit Tokyo". Oh great...

Kite being flown at the park...

We ate lunch the Mosaic mall & did a little shopping. We found that the Japanese love anything with Hawaii on it, a store was selling shirts saying "Poi Dog Club the symbol of Hawaii". Weird!
I took a picture of Josh & a Kewpie doll for Granny because she always tells him he looks like one.

Osaka Castle...

View from the top of the castle...