Well, it’s Sunday night. I really should be going to bed, but I just have to start my weekend blogs first! This weekend has been so amazing that it will probably turn into a 2 part blog (I don’t have a great record with doing the second part of a two-parter, but I’ll do my best).
So, why was this weekend so great? Well, I practically spent the whole thing with friends. I spent Saturday with my friend Harry and Sunday with my friend Sheryl. They are both lovely people and SO much fun!
First, SATURDAY!
On Saturday, Harry and I went to Hakone. I’ve had mixed feelings about Hakone for a while. I didn’t really know much about it except that it was a place where you could enjoy nature and maybe see Mt. Fuji. And there was some kind of volcano or mountain or something. Considering that about a zillion places in this area make the same Fuji claim, I wasn’t super impressed. But I heard some good things about it, so I was excited to go on Saturday. But I was mostly excited to just go somewhere new.
To get to Hakone, you can reserve a seat on a train from Machida to Hakone called the Romancecar (bahahaha). The best thing about the Romancecar (besides the name) is that the seats are comfortable! Actually, that’s a lie. We were sailing along towards Hakone. I looked out the window across the aisle, and my gaze landed on a snowcapped mountain. FUJI!!!!!
I got a little excited and tried to take a picture out the window.
When we arrived at the end of the line, we weren’t 100% sure where to go. Someone who shall remain nameless forgot to bring the Hakone information guide along. But she knows who she is.
Lots of people from our train seemed to be getting on a cool little red train, so we just decided to go with the flow. I love fun trains, so when it turned out to be the right choice, I was pretty happy. The little red train chugged out of the station and slowly wound its way up through the mountains.
There really were some fall colors on this mountain…I should edit this picture, but I’m too tired.
Here’s the front of the train – I love it when trains go around curves!
When we got to the end of the red train line, we transferred to a cable car. By this time, I was pretty much on cloud 9. Three fun forms of transportation in one day??? And nature???? Yessss.
Seriously. Look at this thing. Who wouldn’t want to ride it?? And look at that sky! Bliss, people. Bliss.
Hello, fall colors!
Usually you transfer to a gondola at the top of the cable car line. However, we had to take a substitute bus instead of the ropeway due to volcanic activity (I didn’t see or smell anything, but no one asked me). We got off the cable car and got on the bus. It was a really nice bus, but I was a little disappointed about the ropeway. I had seen that it was canceled before we got there, so it wasn’t a huge shock. But you know. It sounded pretty amazing.
Well, after a few minutes, the bus stopped. We followed a bunch of people off and heard talk about a ropeway. Ropeway? What?
Surprise! The first half of the ropeway was closed, but the second half was open!
There was much rejoicing.
Fuji was gorgeous from the gondola.
And, our fellow gondola riders were so much fun. They seemed to really be having a blast. As a matter of fact, they discovered these photo props in the gondola and handed them over to us so we could try them out. Mine says “I heart Hakone”
Hi, Fuji! Love your snow hat!
When we alighted from the gondola, we made our strangest transfer of the day. We boarded a ship. And not just any old boat. It was a pirate ship we boarded, matey.
Aye, we boarded a pirate ship and set off across the briny deep. Well, it wasn’t briny, but it was probably deep. Maybe.
Avast ye landlubbers!
Harry is pretty lucky, because I just now realized that I completely forgot to tell any pirate jokes.
What’s a pirate’s favorite school subject?
Arrrrrrrrrrt.
Did I mention that we could see Fuji from the boat? For a while, we couldn’t. I thought we weren’t going to be able to see it, but suddenly it appeared.
Cue overly-excited Liz. You know me and mountains. I can’t stop being thrilled.
This was our boat.
Tada!
Finally, it was time for lunch. We had udon noodles with mountain vegetables. Yum! So Japanese!
After lunch, it was coffee time. I saw a sweet potato coffee. I wanted to try it, but it sounded weird. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t try it, so I tried it.
It was the WORST COFFEE I’VE HAD IN MY LIFE! Bar none. It was chunky. Enough said.
I want to keep writing, but now I’m really late for bed! I’m so sorry to leave you on this lovely chunky potato coffee note. I will try to get back as soon as possible.
Good night!
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