Wandering Daydreams

This is the last full day that we have here in Japan and we decided to make a day trip to visit Kobe. Kobe is a smaller city which is around 30 minutes away from Osaka by train. Nara is also another option for a one day trip as it is also similarly located close to Osaka. However, as I wanted to try the Kobe beef, I decided on Kobe over Nara. In the morning, we took the Hankyu line from the Umeda station all the way to the Sannomiya station in Kobe. Inclusive of the subway ride to the Umeda station from our hotel area, the tickets cost us 400 yen each per way. We took a walk to our first destination, which are the Kobe Ijinkan or western style houses. For those who prefer to take a bus, you could also get a City Loop - Day Pass for 650 yen, which would allow you to hop on and off the City Loop bus for the whole day. We decided not to get it as we were not planning to use the bus that much today. 1. Super cute Starbucks shop     2. Steep stairway leading up to a shri...

Now that we're back in Osaka, one of the schedules on our itinerary is a visit to the famous Osaka Castle. We bought some snacks and macarons ^^ from the departmental stores the day before, which we had for breakfast before our sightseeing. We took the subway to the Tanimachi-4 Chome station (230 yen per person one way), and from there walked for about 10 to 15 minutes to get to the castle grounds. There are actually several subway stations surrounding the Osaka Castle area, which are also within walking distance, so you can choose which line is more convenient based on the station you are departing from. There were lots of signage along the way pointing us along towards the Osaka Castle, so there wasn't much of a problem in getting there from the subway station. Saw a beautiful patch of pink flowers along the way as well ^^ Osaka Castle and the surrounding grounds Compared to the other temples and shrines we visited previously, there is no charge to enter and se...