Himeji Castle

Seldom have I seen so many steps!  And after walking down the mountain for 2 hours the day before.  Actually thanks to Ibropofin and soaking in the onsen, I really didn't suffer too much.

Next day was the worst.
Cherry blossoms were just starting to come out.  And again more steps!

Day after the walk down Mt. Rokko, we drove over to Himeji Castle.  The cherry blossoms were just starting and it was a lovely day.  Here we are posed before the long walk up to the castle proper.  I have visited Chiba Castle and Otaki Castle, but this was a much larger more historic castle.

Mt. Rokko

One of the days in Kobe we decided to take the tram up Mt. Rokko.  It was a beautiful ride up and then we decided to save money and walk back down.  Jack's parents and our pregnant daughter in law decided to take the tram back down.  She had walked it before with the Pathfinder club and knew just how hard it would be. 
Son and daughter-in-law.
If the path had been like this I could have walked for hours and never would have felt any pain the next day.  However the path was like this only here!  Mostly it was like the photo below.  It was fun but mostly down steep rocks.  I knew my knees would be in pain the next day.  It took us 2 hours.  I found a stick that helped to put my weight on it instead of totally on my legs.

Kobe Adventist Hospital

Here is the hospital where   everyone can see in the waiting room it is Christian. My daughter-in-law's parents have worked her whole life.  They both worked in the Examination Department (example blood, urine, bm, etc.)  Below is her father who gave us a tour of the hospital. The mother retired last year.  It is time for him to retire too, but the hospital can't find a replacement.  Last time I visited this hospital was 25 years ago when it was 1/2 this size and my husband's aunt was dying of stomache cancer.

On the 4th floor is an outside roof garden for the patients to enjoy.  This is also the floor that has the hospice facilities which are very comfortable and nice for those with only a few months more to live.  

Below is the entrance for the hospital.  Standing in front is mother-in-law, husband, father-in-law and son.  This hospital is very near the Arima Onsen area...kind of up in the mountains far from the downtown Kobe.

Orchid room

Our last night we got the orchid room.  Probably the strongest tobacco smell but with the window open and the heat on--it was okay.  We enjoyed singing karoke again as nothing good on tv that we could agree on!
Also enjoyed the bubble bath with the jukuzi.  There was a light that kept changing the color accent every 30 seconds or so.
Even the bathroom had the orchid tones.  And below you can see the way we pay as we exit.  Kind of frightening to realize that you can't exit without the approval of your credit card or the proper cash put through and accepted.  What about a fire?  I'm hoping the management has a automatic release of all doors in case of an emergency.  Tomorrow I'll leave our sleeping arrangements and move on to our daily activities in Kobe area.

2cd Day's room

The second day we had to go up a class as the A plan rooms were all full.  So this is a B plan room which was actually only 1,000 yen higher and only a tiny bit nicer.  It did have the best quality of air, as the other nights we could smell a tiny hint of tabacco.  This room had the Hot Pink color style with white trim.
Bed was very comfortable.  Below was the way into the bathroom with a window that would show the rainbow  colors.  Every 30 seconds or so the color would change.  We wanted to sing karoke but since it was Friday night and our Sabbath had started we only sang, "Bridge over Troubled Waters" and "We are the World".

In the Japanese Motel

We had fun singing Karoke.  DH favorite song was "Top of the World"
Quite a stock of supplies.  Free tea and coffee but the fridge stuff was coin operated.

Notice almost everything is red!  Even the ceiling!  Below is the way to pay as you leave.  In fact you are locked in and can't leave until the payment is accepted!  I checked the windows to see how to escape in case of fire and found that would be almost impossible.  So had DH keep the credit card handy so in case of fire we could quickly pay to get out.  In USA I think to lock someone in without a safety escape would be illegal.  They probably have a button that in case of fire would unlock all doors?