takayama

view from our room

mist rises from thatched roof houses in the morning

shopkeepers close up in the evening

The last photos before the (computer) crash are from Takayama. I wanted to go back so that O could stay at the beautiful Nagase Ryokan and to check out a promising walk that I spotted when I visited Takayama in the heat of the summer with my mom. As our train made its way through Gifu the snow in the distant hills was eventually on the ground beside the tracks. And we arrived in Takayama to find snow melting from the temple roofs. Snow ! Our first and so far only snow of the season. But the Ryokan was always nice and toasty, the futons fluffy, and the food more then plentiful. As were leaving, charmed by both the town and the ryokan, the inn keeper ( I think that really is what you would call her here ) told us that after 11 generations in the same family the Ryokan was closing the following week. We were probably the last people to stay in that beautiful room. Somehow I can not bear to think of that rambling old building empty. So glad we got in a visit before they closed the doors.