The Elliott Family Amazing Race Continues...

TOJINBO

I love this picture of umeboshi (Japanese sour plums) drying in the sun. It was SO hot that day I'm sure they were done in no time!

Being right on the ocean, all of the restaurants were selling ikura and uni. It was too hot to eat anything...even ice cream! But if there was a flavour you were feeling like, I'm sure you could have found it here!


Below: ?? Huh?? Crrrrreeeeppy.


Tojinbo is an area of coastline that if famous for it's rugged cliffs made of columns of rock. It's like a smaller, more crowded, more touristy version of Ireland's Giant's Causeway (I was a bit disappointed...guess nothing beats GC, right Steph!). It was unbearably hot. We snapped some pictures and then decided we weren't into hanging around and becoming bacon so we caught the next bus outta there!







Above: Dad becoming slightly pinkish...
Below: Me, looking so ridiculously short. Seriously, I look like 3 feet tall. Not a good angle.

The combination of heights (it was/is a popular spot for suicides) and the heat kept my mom hiding under an umbrella in the tiny bit of shade. My Dad and I soon joined her. We got the bus and then the train to Kanazawa.



KANAZAWA

Is everyone drooling right now? I certainly am...it was so delicious and inexpensive! This was the best sashimi I have ever tasted. Come on, anywhere that can make me fall in love with uni (sea urchin) must have the world's best seafood! I never thought I'd say that I like, let alone love uni but here it was creamy and fantastic.

(The seafood was so good that we actually went back the following night and ordered the exact same meal. It was just as fantastic the next day)

The next morning we walked as fast as we could across the castle park towards the garden. We ran from patch of shade to patch of shade, while hiding under umbrellas.

Kenroku-en










21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

I love this place.

I just wish there weren't always so many people there...

I walked around taking pictures while my parents watched a particularly long video art piece. I had to leave because the combination of ventriloquist dummy romancing Meryl Streep (yes, the actress) and musical puppets was making me uncomfortable...(Is there anything more terrifying than ventriloquist dummies? I think they might be worse than mimes)

I don't get a lot of the artwork (My mom and I did enjoy the 'map of an Englishman' piece - a map of the personality/psychological issues of an Englishman)...

But I love the architecture of the building.



After the museum we walked along the main street and through the fish market.
Below: A quilted menu. Instead of the usual plastic food display, this restaurant had this quilt hanging in the window. Creative.

Once again, a trip to Kanazawa rocks. This city has an awesome combination of good sights, fantastic food and cool architecture. I mean, just check out that train station. Gorgeous.



We caught a bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go...but that will be in my final installment of the Amazing Obon Vacation Race...stay tuned...