Day in Kanazawa

So, I know I just posted yesterday, and I feel like no one's read it yet, except my gorgeous Karen!!! But nothing happens during the week, so I'm going to post on the weekends when stuff happens.

Yesterday, for lack of other things to do, we decided we wanted to go into Kanazawa to look at the local sights and for some shopping. We chose to ride our bikes because bus fees both ways adds up to being about $6.50, which I'm a poor college student so that's too much for me.

After catching lunch at a local combini, we got on our bikes and started riding, which in itself was interesting since we weren't exactly sure where we were going, but when we started doubting ourselves, about half an hour into the ride, we saw the bridge that always takes us into Kanazawa so we were relieved.

We checked out one big department store in the area. I think it was about 6 floors or something so it takes a while to see everything. We didn't even buy anything there, but we were "shopping" in Phil's definition.

We then decided to run over to the 21st Century Art Museum. It's shape is a circle and all its designs are very contemporary. We were too cheap to actually go into the central area of the museum, so we walked around the perimeter and saw the store and a few exhibits and such. I liked its architectural design much more than I think I would have enjoyed the paintings anyway.

After walking around the museum, we headed back to look for Omicho Market, which is a famous market in Kanazawa, but since it was Sunday, it ended up being closed. On the way though, we stopped by Oyama shrine. It had an extensive garden (even though it was in the middle of the city) and we hiked around the hills and over the water! It was interesting. We also saw the tail end of some Bhuddist ceremony where the priest was blessing a family, and afterwards, he came out to even bless their car. We purified ourselves by walking through a reef of grass before heading back towards Omicho Market.

When we reached the market and discovered it was closed, we decided to go to the department store across the street. This was a very large department store about 7 or 8 floors, and we spent an hour or two wandering around inside. They had a few Japanese type stores that we bought おみやげ at. I was excited because I could actually use my credit card here!

We ate dinner in the market in the basement of the department store before heading outside and discovering our worst nightmare - It was raining!!!

Now, I know it's rainy season, and it does rain every day, but that didn't phase us when making plans to come to town without bringing an umbrella or raincoat! So, first we had to walk about half a mile in the rain to our soaking wet bikes, and then we biked home in the rain for half an hour!!

I was soaking wet. We all were! I took pictures at the end, don't worry. I guess I'm really funny in the rain. Even though it was raining, and we were worried on our flimsy Japanese bikes, I was singing and dancing the whole way! I think it was so everyone knew i was still there (even though I was in the front of the line, shh!)

Then there was a warm shower and dry clothes awaiting me!

Time for class! I hope everyone's 4th of July celebrations went well!