Matsuyama sightseeing

After a great night's sleep, we went to a Tully's Cafe for breakfast. Yes, I had a breakfast hotdog and a coffee. We wandered through the covered shopping street (we so need these back home) and then walked to the ropeway, which takes you up the hill to the castle.

The views from Matsuyama castle were great, looking out in every direction, including to the sea. Matsuyama castle is one of the 12 original castles remaining in Japan, and it's in remarkably good condition for a 400 year old castle. It wasn't too busy, being a Monday, so we went inside to take a look around. We, of course, had to remove our shoes to walk through the multilevel main castle building. It was really fascinating as it now housed displays of swords, armour, and other interesting antiques.

We took the chairlift back down this time - there were little WHS concerns here - no seatbelts, but there was a net if you fell out!

We walked back to the streetcar and took it to Dogo Onsen, an area quite famous in Japan for (you guessed it), it's onsen. Apparently, even the Japanese royal family come here! We walked through yet another covered shopping street, which was very touristy but pretty. We didn't really want to go to an Onsen - it's so hot outside that we didn't really feel like bathing in hotspring water today. We did, however, see a public foot bath. I soaked my feet and had a lovely chat with a local lady who was doing the same thing. In the meantime, there was a cool clock with a mechanical display going off at 1pm - check out the video, and you'll understand.

It was lunchtime, so we took the streetcar back towards our hotel where Gayle had eyed a Tonkatsu (crumbed pork cutlet) restaurant. We sat down and ordered our chosen meal sets and some beers. They were delicious and only ¥900 for a meal set that included crumbed pork cutlet, rice, shredded cabbage, miso soup, and green tea. It was time for an afternoon nap 😴Læs mere