We all woke late after last night’s onsen marathon. It had rained all night and at this elevation it felt like we were in and above the clouds all at once. The rain stopped while we were doing the yoghurt and juice thing in the so-called “breakfast nook” of our accommodation – which is more a tiny table and chairs on the tatami floor overlooking the garden. I’m not complaining.
Around 11 am we struggled down the hill a couple of hundred metres to a local cafe called Paseo – the lovely lady who runs this tiny place bakes her own bread and makes decent coffee. We had found our morning go to place – ace!
Later we strode further downhill to the tiny township of Gora to peruse the tacky souvenirs, pick up more supermarket supplies and eat some excellent soba noodle soup for lunch before taking the funicular back our accommodation. Really that little outing was just about getting our bearings in Hakone/Gora. Once we had stashed our stuff we headed straight back out to the Hakone Open Air Museum – a brisk 20 minute downhill walk away. Now I must admit I was expecting something a little bit dinky – a few average sculptures rusting away in a field – but boy was I wrong. The museum is massive (70,000 square metres), incredibly well maintained, and featured some really amazing works by Japanese artists, and others from around the world including Henry Moore, Joan Miro, Calder and a bunch of others that I should remember but don’t. There were also a few indoor pavilions including one devoted to a bunch of work by Picasso. I don’t know about you, but after watching that Hannah Gadsby stand up show “Nannette,” I really can’t get as excited about Picasso as I used to. Lou is certainly firmly in the anti-Picasso camp and initially even refused to enter the exhibition space. Anyway, Picasso controversy aside – the Open Air Museum was incredible with a whole bunch of immersive amazing works. V glad we made the trek.
From there it was just a short uphill slog to our fave bar of the moment – the Gora Brewery and Grill – this time we skipped the grill and focused on the brewery – i.e. we drank beer and didn’t eat anything. Excellent fuel for the funicular ride home and straight back into our own private onsen. Later we remembered to eat – microwaved convenience store noodles – which in Japan are not nearly as bad as they sound. Noodles and Japanese TV – an excellent pairing and the perfect antidote for insomnia.
flyeelookee 