30th DAY: Osaka Castle

We wanted to move back to the stadium. The price at Banana House was 1000yen cheaper but we preferred the atmosphere at Nagai Youth Hostel. Check out thime was 11am but the managers weren’t there at all on Sundays so we ended up staying until 12pm.

Check in time wasn’t until 3pm so we sat in the main lounge to use our computers first luckily. The original plan was to go to Osaka Castle immediately but the plans changed due to rain.

We didn’t get going until 2pm or so. The sun had come out and it was smoking hot which made me unsure whether rain or sun was better. One was cool but wet and the other was unbearably hot and sweaty. I’d say neither. I prefer overcast.

On the way to the castle there was a martial arts building so we had to check that out. There were some people doing kendo training. Never seen that before so it was kind of cool. Inside the castle was far different than I expected. Everything was normal until we got to the front door. It looked like a hotel or something. There was a big lineup going into a small foyer, a counter like a reception, modern inside a with fancy design, and 2 elevators taking you up. On the way up a stuffed elevator to the 5^th floor was a girl who had to repeat 10 lines a zillion times a day, poor girl. It was a museum inside with fancy screens using holograms telling stories, models and ancient traditional uniforms. At the top is an observation deck. It was cool but I was a little sad there was no evidence of the original castle’s framework anymore. Who knows, maybe it’s just a replica.

There was a big park around the castle that had a trail but we had enough of the place. We went to the back, took a few pictures, and took a break. During that time Nigel finally got his long awaited sms from Maria. She had time to meet him the next day only. In order for that to happen, we had to go back to the hostel, cancel his night there, go to the scooter shop to return the scooter, then catch the overnight bus to Tokyo. Then the next day he’d have to come back because she had to work. It could be done but it was a lot of traveling. He was super excited to see her though. On the way out, we saw a group of people in a drum circle so we stopped and had a listen. I think for me, I enjoyed them more than the castle but I’m still glad I went.