Here and there but not quite everywhere!
We headed out in the morning on the JR Hida from Toyama to Takayama. We spent the morning at Hida no Sato, the Hida Folk Village. Afterwards, we headed to the historic area of Takayama to have a late lunch and to take a quick walk around before heading back to Toyama.
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We headed out early in the morning to catch the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa. Once we arrived, we visited Kenroku-en, a garden, and the Kanazawa Castle Park. Afterwards, we briefly visited a small shrine and a samurai district before heading back to the station.
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We visited the Old Post Office Tower this morning. It is operated by the National Park Service and provides access to a observation room above the tower’s four clock faces. There is also some historical information about the Old Post Office building on the path from the entrance to the elevators.
As it is in a newly redeveloped structure, one would expect that this historic section of the building would have been updated as well to provide a great visitor experience. However, it is a sad little place. Some of the window openings are protected by clear plastic, possibly plexiglass, sheets that are in terrible condition. Other windows are covered by strands of thick metal wire that run top to bottom. And there is a NPS staff member whose only job seems to be to yell at visitors when they touch the metal wire as touching it is prohibited. Definitely one of the worst NPS visitor experiences anywhere.
A little bit of investment is needed to at least replace the terrible windows with some quality glass. That would solve multiple problems at once. This place has so much potential!
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We spent the last morning walking around Frankfurt‘s old town area and crossed over the Main on the Eiserner Steg, a pedestrian bridge. The weather was good though cloudy with just a bit of drizzle at times. It ultimately did rain quite hard after we left the city.
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We headed out this morning to spend the day in Mainz, where the Main joins the Rhine. We saw a variety of sights including Roman ruins and old churches as well as the Rhine. One thing we did not see was the Gutenberg Museum as it is closed on Mondays!
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