Day #7 Shirakawa Snow

Before we started this trip, we did know that mom hates the cold. However, we thought the cold would be over by now and that spring would be pretty much in full swing. Shirakawago was the one place Art really wanted to see but it IS in the mountains and it could be cold.

It was. But at least there wasn't any snow to hinder our wheelchair access.


Well...

There was a downpour that seemed to last all night and then it stopped. I figured it was over so it wouldn't be miserable trying to get the wheelchair back to the bus station.

That's when Auntie looked out the window this morning and saw a blanket of snow everywhere.

It was awfully pretty though. Our minshuku (bed, breakfast and dinner house) hostess told us that this was a RARE late snowfall. She also said we should not miss going back up to the lookout to see the village draped in snow. This is what this place is quite famous for.
Art and I borrowed a couple pairs of the minshuku's rubber boots and dashed out to take photos.

And here's another bird that we couldn't identify.

I knew that my aunt who is quite artistic would not want to miss all this beauty so I rushed back to get her. She donned another pair of the boots and walked around the village with us. It was just awesome! Spectacular! It took our breath away!

Meanwhile, nice and toasty, mom got herself ready for another fabulous minshuku meal. This breakfast was gorgeous. Auntie, who is an epicurean savored each dish carefully.

And yes! We did finish every last morsel of food. No, no doboruku this morning.

It was really interesting to see the miso being cooked over a fire on top of a leaf. Auntie decided she needed to try making this, too. She actually managed to find a store that sold the makings of this dish.

We had to figure out how to manage the wheelchair, the luggage, and the packages in the snow. Mom opted to walk while Art carried the wheelchair.
It was hard to keep walking when there was so much to see and enjoy.

However, the snow was like a blizzard at times. Although mom was cold, she did admit, it was absolutely incredible.

We got on the shuttle for the short ride to the lookout. We were surprised that no one was there. We were the only ones on the bus. Hmmm... maybe the others had too much doburoku?

If you blow this photo up, you'll see that mom is looking quite miserable. She had about 5 layers of clothing on so she couldn't zip up the down coat.

The scenery was totally amazing. I just don't have words to describe the grandeur of the scenery all around us.



Looking down at the village, it looked like a miniature toy winter village.

We then came back to bus station, dropped mom and auntie off and headed back to the minshuku to return the rubber boots and collect the rest of our baggage.

Mom said the snow on the trees looked like cherry blossoms.

And then the sun came out!

We boarded our bus for the 1 hour ride back to Takayama.

Back in Takayama, it was snowing also. However, we had a fabulous curry lunch at Jakson. They were playing American music. I'm not a huge curry fan but this was too, too wonderful... especially on a cold day.
Yummm!

Dinner was okonomiyaki, which is sort of like an omelette. As we watched her cook, we ended up buying an extra dish which we weren't able to finish. We gave it to the desk clerk who happily accepted it.

We ordered four of these PLUS a noodle dish!

If we had doboroku, auntie would be smiling. We just had plain ol' Japanese beer.

I love the fact that we have to wear toilet slippers. I kept forgetting to change them back to regular slippers when I left the bathroom. Sheesh!