Tokyo--->Kyoto--->Takayama then Matsumoto Castle in Nagano prefecture.
東京→京都→高山の次に立ち寄ったのが、長野県の松本城。
It took us about 2 hours by car....Takayama was cool but Matsumoto was very hot and humid....maybe it's because it's surrounded by mountains...
高山から車で2時間くらいだったでしょうか。。。高山に比べて、暑かった!!!盆地だからなのか。。。30℃以上あったのような。。
Three dudes.
男衆3人。
and just two of us which has become a rare shot....as soon as Kiko found out she shouted "I want to join in(the photo)"...maybe she didn't eat much lunch or maybe it was too hot...I don't know....
最近珍しくなったツーショット。これを見て希子が、「希子も(写真に)はいる〜」と駄々。ろくにお昼食べてないし、暑いし眠いしだからでしょうか。
Here we go, Kiko. You are the center of the photo!
There were a lot of visitors there though it was a weekday...we went on a tour of the inside the castle but it was too crowded in a small space with steep stairs....not good for elderly and small children. 気を取り直して。キコちゃんもね。
平日だったのに、すごい人。特にお城の中は狭くて、ぎゅーぎゅー。しかも一度入った見学コースから出られず,天守閣まで登って降りて1時間。。。
とっても急な階段が多いので、足の悪い人や小さな子供連れには辛いですね。。
The outside makes up for it though...it was very masculine looking castl.
中よりも外観の方が素敵ですね。。。白壁が少なくてしぶーい感じでした。。。
Finally we were headed to my home town, Iwaki, Fukushima. We didn't leave Matsumoto until 3pm(spent longer time looking inside than we expected).
Bob's estimate travel time was about 4 and half hours without no rest/no traffic jam...as expectetd we did hit a traffic jam but we made it in 5 hours without stopping for a break at all!!!
Sam and Peter have been years of training sitting in a car (with electronic devises I think the boys can probably drive to the moon...) but our 3 year old was a superstar....sitting in the middle seat in a car for 5 hours without pee!!!
さて。松本城からようやく実家へ向かいます。場内見学に時間がかかってしまい、松本を出たのが午後3時になってしまった。。。渋滞なし休憩なしで4時間半くらいで実家に着くっていうボブの見込みだったけど、本当かな(ーー; って思ってたらやっぱりの渋滞に。。
でも休憩なしで(すごいよね!)5時間ぶっ通しで、なんとか夜の8時到着〜〜。。。ひえ〜サムとピーターは長年の訓練?でへっちゃらだけど(多分ゲーム機があったら月にも車で行けるくらい平気)、それにしてもうちの3歳児、車の移動に関しては百点満点。おトイレ遠くてほんとに良かった;;;
次からは実家うろうろ編です。。。