Thursday, October 22, 2009

Monday October 19, 2009

 

Monday we moved on to the town Karuizawa. Karuizawa is best know as the resort town where the Emperor met his wife. It is a resort town in the mountains where the well to do come to escape the heat of the summer in Tokyo.

Kita Karuizawa DSC01001

On tiny little streets like this the well to do shop in little boutiques. We were here mostly as a good jumping off point to hike. Karuizawa is also very close to Mt.Asama which is one of Japan’s most active volcanoes. It has erupted in 2004 and 2009 although each time it was little more than ash.

Karuizawa Hotel Creek detail DSC01024

This fussy detail is from a complex of buildings called the Creek wedding complex which include a hotel and cafe. It appears that this area is a good place for people in Tokyo to get married. There are a number of wedding chapels and shops in the area.

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I took this picture for my friend Susie.

And this was one of those modern gems a building made entirely of six inch steel columns.

Karuizawa Piloti DSC01034

We stopped at a small coffee place called “stone ground coffee” I like the fact that the menu is partially in english. I am trying to learn my hiragama and katakana – Katakana is the alpha bet used for foreign words. So an “Americano” is just spelled out with the katakana letters.

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This was our hotel. It was two minutes from the train station. Our window is right above the “0267” on the third floor.

Karuizawa Hotel DSC01046

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