Fast Trains and Naked Women

Despite the title I promise this post is G rated. Although I think this could be the plot of an awesome action movie. I could even spin it off into a never-ending series... *cough* Fast & Furious *cough*

Today we left Tokyo which was sad. But first we went to check out the Imperial Palace. We couldn't see a whole lot since the grounds were closed today, but we could get glimpses of the palace and we got to see some pretty cherry blossoms above the water. I also got a good picture of a swan floating in the water under the blossoms.

Then we checked out of our airbnb and walked to the train station one last time. We transferred a couple of times before we were able to get on our bullet train. That was cool- we had reserved seats and it went really fast. It was also interesting to see some of Japan's countryside as we rode west. 

We arrived in Nagano and that's when the real fun started. We had booked an airbnb weeks ago but other than getting approved we had never heard from the host despite several proddings and calls in the last few days. We tried to call a few more times before we reached out to airbnb to report that we were unable to check in. They responded that we had to wait an hour to give our host a chance to respond and if we hadn't heard back we could cancel the reservation and get a full refund. Luckily the train station was attached to a mall area so it wasn't difficult to pass the time. We walked around and checked out the interesting food (I feel like everywhere I go in Japan has food I've never seen before). We were offered a sample of some apple flavored ice cream which was so good so we ended up getting some. And we found some free wifi to connect to so we could start figuring out plan B.

An hour passed and still no word (we weren't shocked by this point), so airbnb gave us a refund and we moved on. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise though because we ended up finding a hotel which we had looked at before but now it was even cheaper since it was last minute online-only pricing, so we ended up booking that for even cheaper than what our airbnb was. And the best part was the hotel is connected to the train station so we didn't even have to go out in the rain to get there. And it's a super nice hotel! It's the Hotel Metropolitan Nagano. So we went to check in and then it got even better. Somehow we ended up getting upgraded! I'm still not sure how that happened but we didn't ask questions. So now we have an awesome corner room, which has it's own Japanese-style dining table and chairs (close to the floor), two TVs, and a 3 room bathroom (separate sink, toilet, and shower rooms). Plus, a super fancy toilet with all of the gimmicks! It even activates automatically when you walk in. We're pretty psyched. Oh, it also has a humidifier which I love- hotel rooms are always so dry!

Our dining area:

We decided to spend the evening by checking out one of the local onsens. An onsen is a Japanese hot spring and public bathhouse. I had never done anything like this before so it was a very new experience. And this one I had to figure out on my own since the onsens are separate by gender. So I split up from the guys and went into the locker room. I undressed and put my stuff in a locker and then tried to decide what to do next. It's really difficult trying new things when you can't understand any of the signs. I picked a door and hoped for the best. It was the right one based on the many hot pools and unclad women I saw. First you had to wash yourself at one of the sitting showers. You literally sit on a little stool and wash yourself. That was a new experience all by itself. After washing you can go check out the many different hot pools. I'm really not sure what were the differences between them because, again, I can't read Japanese. But I picked one randomly and soaked myself in that for awhile. It was really hot! 40 degrees Celsius I believe. For a little over an hour I alternated between different pools, some were cooler than others. I went into the sauna for 2 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore. I really prefer steam rooms but I missed it because apparently they had one of those too. But my favorite spots were the outside pools. It was dark by this time and pretty chilly out so sitting in the hot springs felt really nice. Plus it was set in this nice little garden and just outside the privacy fence I knew there was a river that I could hear rushing and just beyond that there was a huge cliff face that I could see. It was really beautiful and watching the steam rising from the hot water added to the ambiance. It was kind of awesome to spend an hour without any devices or really interacting with anyone at all and relax naked outside in the hot water while admiring the beauty all around me. My only regret about not being able to have any devices is that I wish I could've taken a picture so I could remember how peaceful it was, but alas I don't think the other nude Japanese ladies would've appreciated that.

Eventually I washed myself off again, dried off and re-dressed in time to meet back up with the boys. We decided to grab dinner in the restaurant at that same spa/hotel. I (tried to) order ramen but ended up with cold ramen (which apparently is a thing but I'm not a fan). Jack had ordered ramen too but his was hot and he was kind enough to switch with me. At dinner we sat in the traditional Japanese low tables and sitting on cushions on the floor. We had a nice relaxing dinner and then made the trek back to our awesome hotel room.

Here's us at dinner:

We'll see what tomorrow brings!