Osaka - morning after the night before

It would be fair to say that I wasn't feeling the best when I woke up. After I eventually managed to get out of bed we went for a long walk through Osaka to find some cherry blossom.

Eventually after about an hour we came to a park west of the trees had started to blossom, although not universally. We carried on walking and began heading for the meeting point for a walking tour that we had booked in the afternoon.

Having met up with group, we visited Osaka castle with it's pagoda and moat. Next we got on the subway and went to an area that used to be a bit of a ghetto for Korean expats. After that we were taken to the tallest building in Osaka and what used to be the tallest building in Japan until relatively recently. We went up to about the 20th floor so not for the top and saw some of the views over Osaka.

Back on to the metro and with visitors an area with lots of games, Japanese archery, slot machines in the like. It felt a bit like Blackpool. We also went into a massive arcade where the music and noise was really loud and where there were rosen rows of Japanese people using ball bearing machines to try to win tokens. (Apparently betting is illegal in Japan but this is one of the ways they have to get around it)

The final stop on the tour took us back to Dotombori, the area we had been in the previous evening. It was just as busy but it was interesting to see some of the bright lights, building decorations and general vibe in the daytime.

The tour ended at about 5:30 and we had a quick beer before heading back to the hotel. Once we got back we went to the lounge for canopies and a glass or two of wine.Read more