As first time visitors to Kanazawa, we can say – Kanazawa is very cool, and we’re very much looking forward to going back to visit again!
Enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel – Japan does a great hotel buffet breakfast, and this was one of the best. Thank you, Tokyuu Stay Kanzawa!
Went for a morning walk to explore the Kanazawa castle grounds (we ended up not going to the actual castle ruins, the gardens around it were amazing). It was my first time really walking any sort of distance on icy roads, and proved challenging! Luckily, once off the bitumen, the path was a lot easier to navigate.
Really great little photo walk with MBW, got some portfolio-worthy shots this morning!
Ended up at the Gyokusen-inmaru gardens, where we stopped for a tea ceremony at a pavilion looking over the beautiful and snowy gardens. At parts, the pond had frozen over and a light dusting of snow coated everything. Was very cool.
Leaving the gardens, we stopped at an omurice place called Guernica for lunch – it was amazing. The owner was this cool older Japanese rocker, the restaurant looked like a gig venue in it’s off hours, there was hundreds of vinyl records mounted on the walls, and the food was incredible. Couldn’t recommend this place highly enough!
Stopped at a little art gallery/showroom for a browse, and MBW picked up some cool little souveniers.
Went back to the hotel to rest feet and nap for a bit, then got ready to go out for the afternoon.
We caught the local loop bus (which next time we’re there, we will spend a lot more time exploring the stops on this line, every one we passed looked like it was interesting and worth checking out) over to the Higashi Chaya district. The closest we’d been was to Gion in Kyoto, but this “historical” district had the feel of times gone by. Had an amazing atmosphere.
Added bonus – as it was Japanese Coming of Age day, there were a lot of teenagers in their dress kimono and montsuki walking around the district. Really helped make it feel special.
Stopped for dinner at a place we selected more for the location (and chance to sit and have a beer) than the cuisine – turned out to be a burger place that specialised in giant servings. Was tasty, but felt weird eating a burger in a historic district surrounded by people in formal dress!
Bellies filled and imaginations expanded, headed back to the hotel for the night.
