Hakone

This past week we went to Hakone for a little vacation. Hakone is a whole little region up in the mountains and is a famous hot spring resort area for tourists and locals. They call the hot springs onsens. It also offers great views of Mt. Fuji. The weather wasn't quite as cooperative as we would have liked (it was rainy and foggy the whole time) so we had to change our plans around. We had planned to do a loop of the Hakone region by train, cablecar, ropeway, boat and bus, but since the weather was lousy we bagged that. We just ended driving around and exploring so next time we go we have a better idea of what is there. I do have to say that it is absolutely GORGEOUS up there. So Wednesday night we spent walking around a little town, walking through stores, etc. It was a lot of fun. The big thing that they were selling were these pastries filled with bean curds--there were tons of shops selling them. Eric and the kids love them, I haven't quite acquired a taste for them. We had a lot of fun in Hakone, but it was a lot different than the other places we have been. Hakone is very traditional, so not a lot of things are in English and the food is very traditional--meaning, you have NO idea what you are eating. On our way home, we were dying for American or just to eat something that we knew what it was. We passed a Denny's and were like, something we recognize. Needless to say, we won't be eating at Denny's again--not like American Denny's. Again, we had NO idea what we were eating and there were just so many unusual and interesting flavors. Luckily we had ordered the kids pancakes and they didn't eat them, so Eric and I ended up eating them and thought they were the BEST thing we had eaten in a long time. Besides Hakone, everywhere else we have eaten has been great and we eat out a lot, I think we just have not eaten really traditional. Anyways, here are some pictures from our little vacation.

So Wednesday afternoon we drove up to Hakone (it is about 1 1/2 from us). The drive up was so scenic--we drove right along the ocean. We drove through this fun little city called Enoshima (which we had been to before). It reminds us of southern California--big surf town. So the weather was cold and rainy, but we passed by hundreds of surfers--they are diehards. It was fun to see.

View from out our hotel window. We stayed in a japanese hotel which was an interesting experience. Oh for those of you who don't know, I am pregnant, if you can't tell--my fat belly isn't from eating too much yummy japanese food!

View from the window--this river ran right next to the hotel--it was such a gorgeous view!

Looking the other way out the window.

Our hotel room. So we had reserved a western style room and we thought we were getting two double beds, but no we got two twin beds, which Eric barely fit on and a couch that Ethan slept on. Also, being a japanese hotel, they had kimonos and slippers for you to wear. When you are in the hotel you are supposed to wear the slippers. So, with our room we got offered a japanese style breakfast. We had no idea what to expect--we knew it wouldn't be muffins and juice, but we were shocked when they placed our trays in front of us. We had a fish that had been filleted open and cooked, with bones still in it, a raw egg, rice (thank goodness for rice--we never go too hungry) and this soup and all these other little things that we had no idea what they were. I am proud of us, we did try it all, but now we know why the japanese are so skinny.