Umi-no-Hi in the Big City!

Monday, July 19th was umi-no-hi – or ‘Marine Day’ – and, as it generally coincides with the end of rainy season, is usually the most popular beach weekend of the year. This was the first year that Brian and I didn’t spend the long weekend at the beach, however.

Instead, Brian and I spent our days and nights exploring Osaka and even a little of Kyoto these three days.

Saturday
We got started on Saturday morning,　when we woke up lazily in Osaka, and watched the Gion Matsuri on the news. As Kyoto – which is where Gion is – is not all that far from Osaka, we made our way by local train to the ancient capital to see some of the festival.

Brian had been to the festival before, but it was my first time. I love Kyoto, so I enjoyed being there, but the festival itself was, well, a little bit of a let down. The streets were too crowded to allow much of a view for someone as vertically challenged as me, and we’d already walked so much that Brian’s foot began to burn in pain.

However, we did get a few photos and then had a cold beer and hot lunch at a nearby Indian restaurant!

Gion Matsuri

Before making our way back to Osaka, Brian introduced me to the Kyoto market, which I have never been to and didn’t even know existed. They had lots of things on offer, including these octopuses.

Octopus on a stick in the Kyoto market

Back in Osaka, we did a little shopping in Shinsaibashi, in the Nanba area of the city, before stopping for margaritas and tacos at a Mexican restaurant!

The very famous 'Glico Man' billboard at Shinsaibashi

Sunday
We didn’t have much of a plan for Sunday, but the day went by quickly as we explored the Kuromon Ichiba (market), explored the knife shops of Doguyasuji street, and then went shopping in Den Den Town (electronics and other toys). Of course, we also stopped for lunch, and for that we found a Japanese BBQ restaurant near Nanba station.

Check out the price of this watermelon in Kuromon Market - 30,000 yen!

We finished off the day with a 20 minute boat tour along the Dotonbori river!

Sailing the Dotonbori

Monday
In an effort to try to reduce walking and the pressure on Brian’s ever-more damaged foot, we thought a trip to the Osaka Aquarium – Kaiyukan – would be restful and pleasant. Pleasant – yes, extremely. But not so restful and it became another day with lots of walking! However, we both agree that it was worth it. The aquarium, though crowded on this national holiday, was soothing and beautiful.

Swimming Tortoise

The Jellyfish exhibit was especially breathtaking.

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After the aquarium, we took the Santa Maria cruise around Osaka bay, and then it was time for our weekend to come to a close and resume business as usual on Tuesday morning…

Kaiyukan aquarium and Tempozan Harbor Village as seen from the Santa Maria in Osaka bay

Here’s a little map. The blue dots show the general areas around Osaka that we visited (excluding the aquarium…). We did all of this on foot – which helps explain the flare-up of pain in B’s foot!

View Around Nanba, Osaka in a larger map