The 12th of April was a travel day, in the rain. We went from Kanazawa to Matsumoto, and checked into our apartment for the next 2 nights. It was so nice to find a place that had a fully stocked kitchen and separate rooms (so that the parents could have their own space whilst the kids slept). The apartment is right above an archery range, so we treated the kids to some Japanese archery. After many, many tries everybody managed to finally hit the target. It took the kids a bit of time to get used to traditional Japanese bows (which are asymmetrical, and you hold it below the centre of the bow), as they are different from what the girls are familiar with from their archery lessons.
With a working kitchen, we decided to make the most of it and do a bit of home cooking, which is an adventure in itself… grocery shopping for ingredients in Japanese is very interesting! In the end we got all the things to make a seafood version of carbonara pasta.
Whilst the 12th was a slow paced day, we made up for it on the 13th. It started with the kids making grilled cheese toasties and mango yogurt for breakfast (deal was they cooked, but parents had to clean up and do the dishes). This was followed by a great guided tour of Matsumoto Castle. It is one of only 12 castles in Japan that is still in its original wooden construction, others have been destroyed by fire, siege, war or natural disasters, and have been recently remade in concrete. We also learnt that it gets really cold in Japanese houses, especially when you are bare foot on wooden floors.
The tour ended with a private lesson on learning to play the Japanese "Taiko" drums with a Taiko Master. It was incredible fun and also a lot of physical hard work. Not only did we have to keep up with the rhythm but also put a lot of power into beating the drum, using essentially the whole body! We were told to expect a lot of sore muscles tomorrow!
For lunch we tried out a recommended restaurant that specialises in the local Soba noodles. We love restaurants that only have 2 items on the menu, either option A or B. We went for 2 of each, and got really stuffed! It was lovely to have a lovely stroll through Matsumoto and along the river and just enjoying the sights and the sun.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on school and making tacos for dinner. The girls were super excited by dinner and gobbled it all up.
Then it was time for our last fun activity of the day: Karaoke! When in Japan, one has to give it a go! Even Mish with his "pitch perfect" voice joined in, and as the buildings are quake proof they have managed to survive his singing!
It was great to end the day on a high note!
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