Hiking and Gondolas
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: Oh, what a wonderful day!
Wow, wait till you see these photos, folks!
We had a fantastic hike up a mountain in Shin Kobe today. Didik-san lives in Kobe and has been eager to take me on this hike for weeks. I called Miwa at the last minute and she and her two friends also joined us. Siddique from Bangladesh came too. The park is called Nunobiki Herb Park. There were gorgeous views on the way up including a "Fragrance Garden," as well as edible herbs and vegetables. Waterfalls made for a few "Kodak moments." Also the view of the bay and Rokko and Port Island helped me get even more oriented with this area. Rokko is a man-made island. They just chopped off the top of a mountain and now they have a flat little city-island. It's a very international place but very flat.

The weather for the last few days has been rainy and cold so I bundled up in long underwear, sweater and turtleneck. I was a bit uncomfortable but very happy to peel off layer after layer in the wonderful sunlight that prevailed.
We discovered a glass-house (conservatory) with papaya, banana and coffee beans growing inside. Way too hot to stay in too long and our cameras steamed up so bad that we couldn't take picutures inside. We had lunch in a meadow towards the top followed by an exciting ride down in a gondola (a first for a couple of my Japanese friends). Then a quaint tea house with Bangladeshi music for our friend, Siddique-san.

We decided to stay till sunset to view the luminaria. These are well known and attract large crowds each night in December. The theme is a "Celebration of Hope" and first began almost a year after the last devastating earthquake, I think in 1995. Huge structures of elaborate lights are stretched out on a few blocks of the city. They are probably 30 feet tall and reminded me of stain glass windows in their intricacy. Classical music is played which adds to the atmosphere and cameras and cell phones were clicking madly everywhere. What a way to end a perfect day.