Paper, train, food

Today we left Ned's house and took trains to Nikko.

But first, Marianne has asked me to post the photos that Robin took in the stationary store.

If you are short of a pencil or two, this is where you go.

And apparently, you can spend your fortune here buying paper, but gambling, loose women, and booze probably would be more moral.

We took a local train to Tokyo. It had a Green car (1st class) so it was a pleasant ride. There are buildings of all types along each side of the tracks. There is very little countryside.

The Tokyo Tower.

We took our first Shinkansen north to Utsunomiya where we would change back to a local train to Nikko.

Surprisingly small windows.

Robin bought us each a Bento Box with a beer. We ate as we whisked along at 250 kph.

We eventually got to Nikko after briefly taking the wrong train at Utsunomiya because we went to the wrong platform.

We are staying at an inn that has an onsen bath. It also serves a Japanese dinner and here it is.

Some of the food laid out.

My favourite which had some salmon.

Some tempura arrived later and the big silver dish contained various greens and pork in a broth. A candle underneath heated it up and turned it into a delicious soup.

There was also a dried fish. It was an amazing dinner and we will be having it again tomorrow night. I was really hoping we would have a meal like this sometime during the trip.