Back to Kobe

So, we've completed our whirlwind trip of central Japan and are now back in Kobe for the last two full days of our holiday. Such a shame it's gone so fast; I really wish we were all here for longer.

We bade farewell to Dylan, who could not have been more hospitable, at Fukui and caught the "Thunderbird" express down to Kyoto. Again, exceptional service on the train. The guard not only told Nik which car had baby-changing facilities, but broke off from his ticket-checking duties to escort them there in person. She couldn't get the toilet door to close as every time she hit the close button the guard bowed or waved, breaking the infrared beam and making the doors re-open! Then, a bit later on, he re-appeared with a special "Thunderbird Express" kiddies ticket especially for Tom as a souvenir of the trip. What a star.

We then toddled two stops up the line to Otsu to meet Barry, an old friend of mine from Kobe, who married a l

ocal girl and is still living in Japan. They fed us a very nice lunch in their lovely 8th floor flat, co mplete with Steinway grand piano, which overlooks Lake Biwa, whilst Tom slept in his tent, and we spent the afternoon just catching up and talking about this and that. We went for a walk along the lake, they live in a lovely location, Sarah, their 6 year old daughter accompanied us on a bike - apparently there is a cycle path right round the lake. Unfortunately Tom didn't really enjoy it, maybe it was too cold, or too windy, or he was tired or hungry, but he grizzled for most of it which was a shame.

On our return, we got a taxi back to the station ready for our trip back to Kobe. By now it was 5pm, so we decided to have dinner at the station - my new favourite dish "nabeyaki udon" for me and "niku udon" for Matt, while Tom had a ready made Japanese baby rice meal followed by an Ella sachet. We then took a deep breath and caught some commuter trains back to Kobe. We were expecting it to be hectic, but were pleasantly surprised as it wasn't that bad.

Also, Tom made a couple of friends on each train which kept him (and them) amused. He was a little bad in that he decided to be sick on me just as we were leaving one train, so we both smelt quite bad for the rest of the trip!

Got to Rokko Michi and the bus up to Hiromi's. She wasn't in so we got everything organised as quickly as possible, gave Tom his cough medicine, a very quick wash with a warm flannel, then bottle and bed. We haven't heard from him yet, but he must have been tired, it was 8pm before he finally got to go in his tent ready for sleep. Let's hope he has a good sleep.