Food, Flowers, and Festivals = Fun: 2017-07-24, Kobe

The green fields of rice from the train.

In the 'big' city.

I went to Kobe this weekend.

'Kobe is a city on Osaka Bay in central Japan. It is known for its multicultural population, signature marbled beef, vibrant nightlife and scenic setting, with mountains framing the harbor. Antique cable cars connect Kobe to Mt. Rokko, which offers panoramic views over the port.'

Kobe has about 1.5 million people but it was not crowded at all. There were a lot of foreigners, and I think many of them were residents. There are also a lot of foreign stores like LLBean, Eddie Bauer, Old Navy, etc. I really liked the city - I think because you can see the ocean, or the harbor from most places in the city. And there are mountains surrounding it on the northern side, so the best of both worlds. I was in Kobe once last year but I only visited the sake producing area (and the sake factories/museums/tasting rooms of course). This time I did more first time touristy things. actually that's not true. The main places I went are probably not where tourists would go.

But to start off, we had a Kobe beef lunch. Almost all tourists to Kobe will try the famous beef. Not cheap, but unbelievably delicious.

Choices of what to dip the beef (and vegetables) in - garlic chips, special salt, mustard, ponzu with grated radish or a slightly sweet sauce. Surprisingly my favorite was the mustard.

It was cut into bite-sized pieces and since it's full of fat it just melts in your mouth.

Pineapple ice cream for dessert.

Off to a good start!

We walked through the part of town that used to have many foreign consulates. The buildings, with the furnishings are now museums.

These are a couple of cool drawings on walls.

Onto the Nunobiki Herb Garden on the side of a mountain. Luckily there was a cable car.

Looks like Italy.

A fragrance museum.

We happened to notice a classical concert so we stayed for a while (air conditioning!!!)

It was held in a nice wooden room.

This is in the herb house.

A statue from Italy.

An herbal foot bath. Nice!

I was surprised to see this artichoke plant.

Delicious lavender ice cream.

We left the mountain and went to find some waterfalls that I had seen on the internet.

Found them!

There were maple trees everywhere so I might go back in the fall. The area reminded me of Ithaca, NY (although not quite as nice - no place is a nice as Ithaca.)

Back to some tourist sites - Harborland. But we walked along streets with some nice old buildings and found this atrocity.

And a giant fish.

The most famous landmark in Kobe.

I haven't seen a tall ship in a while. And the thing behind it that looks like a cruise ship is actually a building - a hotel.

We had dinner outdoors - YEAH - there are very few places in Japan where you can eat outdoors.
Californians are so spoiled!

Smoked salmon and asparagus pizza.

I think that's a dinner cruise ship.

Breakfast.

Today we went to Mt. Rokko, Kobe's most famous mountain and where the water for sake comes from. We went to the Shinrin Arboretum which was like a state park but with labels on trees and plants. It was quite big, many times the size of Pt. Lobos with walking and hiking paths. So nice. It was also cooler than the city and the air smelt so good (not that Kobe's air is bad, but we were surrounded by trees of all kinds).

A slice of a 2000 year old sequoia from Montana.

There were soooo many maples I will definitely go back in the fall!!!

Lunch. A little better than what we can find at our parks!

Then to a place called 'The Cheese Palace' or "The Cheese Tower' or something like that...

I had high hopes based on the name but the cheese they sold was what you can get at any supermarket and only a few choices at that.

But I was in heaven for a little while when the smell of animals (I know that wouldn't appeal to most of you but I love it.) and all these sheep roaming around willing to be pet.

It was pretty funny seeing these two walking on the path.

This guy was so funny/smart. The green thing next to him is a food dispenser. He would look at me then cock his head as if to say 'Look at the front of this. It's food. For me. Please get me some!' I had to.