Finally, we finished our trip in Kansai by exploring Osaka. We have only been to the city once before (the blog of which can be found here). This time, we were with my sister and brother-in-law and we all stayed in a lovely eco-friendly hotel, with a vegan and gluten free cafe on the bottom floor (https://hotelmorningbox.com/). It was very comfortable, in line with the ideals of the four of us. To find a cafe with drinks and cake that all four of us could enjoy, within the grounds of our hotel, was a huge added bonus that we never expected and yet all utilised to the max. Sammy and I were thrilled that they also had a public bath, so we could have the warm water relax our shoulders after all our travels without having to go exploring for one like we did in Kyoto. After checking out, they also held our cases for us, so we didn’t have to get a coin locker, and the location was really good so I would definitely recommend the place to anyone wanting to stay in Osaka.
For food, Sammy and I found another tempura place to eat at (yes, there was a lot of tempura enjoyed on this trip, because my love for fried food cannot be denied,) as well as an underground shopping mall and an imported goods store that sold snacks for me and Ellen to stock up on before we headed back to Tokyo.
Although Ellen and Michael did more exploring of Osaka while we were in Wakayama, (see the previous blog post, if you haven’t done so already, if you want to read more about that,) we decided we’d go to the castle and Hokoku shrine together. As we got into the castle, the heavens opened up and the heaviest downpour covered the city. We could not complain, after the beautiful week we had had. It hadn’t been too hot, none of us got burnt, but it hadn’t been chilly either. The light jacket I bought in Kanazawa did me good for the entire trip without worry (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read about it here). Getting to the shrine in Osaka though, was tough in the rain. For ten minutes, we all huddled by a wall with our two umbrellas, hoping for a bit of respite. The way it rain as we cowered in this little corner was like a scene from a disaster movie, which looking back now, is really hilarious. We must have looked ridiculous! When it looked like it wasn’t stopping any time soon we dashed across the park, during which time we all got incredibly soaked. All I can say was, thank goodness this happened on our last day, so we could get our clothes cleaned and dried once we were back in Tokyo.
Osaka is always a funny one for me because, every time we visit, I feel like we’ve missed the point. Everything I’ve ever heard about the city makes me think that our vibes would align, but I always leave feeling a bit flat and disappointed. I think if we had friends from the city who could show us the things they like there, maybe then I would connect more with its energy. I feel Tokyo must feel the same though, for people who don’t know it as well as we do, so I can get that it’s a problem with me and not the city itself. As it stands though, we’ve only ever been tourists passing through, so even after this second trip, we haven’t had the moments to connect properly to Osaka. I hope in the future that can change.
(SIDENOTE: for anyone who has been following my blogs recently, you will know how long of a trip this was with my sister. I really am grateful for all the time we spent together and the memories we made, but my gosh were we all tired by the time we reached Osaka. This meant I didn’t take a lot of photos, and the ones I did take weren’t the greatest. I hope you enjoy them regardless, but please keep this in mind when comparing them to the enthusiastic photographer I was at the start, in Kanazawa for example, which you can see linked above, ha.)
