Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Kinosaki Quick Hits

I've been offline for the last few days as we went up the coast on the Japan Sea side of the country to visit Mutsumi's grandmother and relatives there. We spent the first day of the trip at Kinosaki Onsen, which is an area famous for its numerous hot springs and baths. Even after the New Year holiday, most of the "ryokan" or Japanese inns were still all booked up, but Mutsumi managed to get us a room at a place called Yamamoto Ya, which is owned by the same family that runs the local micro-brewery. So I knew we were in good hands! I thought I'd post a few quick pics and vids of our room up there for you to check out.

I spent a lot of time in this chair enjoying the garden outside our window while pondering the future upon my return to NYC...





Here's a better look at it courtesy of my new camera which I remembered also takes video. Forgive my gravely morning voice...



A quick tour of our room...

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A family photo...

5 comments:

Brian Churilla said...

Looks amazing... Have a blast before it's back to the ol' grindstone. ha

Kris Carter said...

It is one of my dreams to experience exactly what you have been doing. I am jealous beyond belief.

Christopher Butcher said...

Do you do the whole onsen thing? I found it one of the things I enjoyed most about Japan, after thinking about it.

C.B. Cebulski said...

Yeah, I do the whole onsen bit, kimono and all sometimes. :) Mutsumi and her family love spas so I've had plenty of time to get used to them over the years. There are always those initial headturns and stares when a fat, pasty white gaijin like me walks in, but once I get past that, it's always total relaxation. I'm particularly a fan of the outdoor hot springs! Love those!!

Mike Hawthorne said...

Beautiful!

Mike