Our last day in Kanazawa was one for savouring. We had no agenda and felt like a day of doing very little. We spent part of a lazy morning reading and catching up on some blog and some travel research. I did an exercise workout, my first in ages, and John packed up a carton we had acquired from a post office the day before. We were very happy to be able to post home our ski helmets (big and bulky) along with the knicknacks we had bought the day before. It was a wonderful feeling knowing we'd have small bags to trundle around for the rest of the trip.
 |
| I'm loving the hilarious kei cars. How's this for a double-cab ute? |
We'd previously checked the location of the nearest post office, and it wasn't far too go, but it was very cold and raining again. It was a pretty easy process to send the parcel on its way home. Time for lunch and we'd just about given up trying to find somewhere when we came across a little place quite close to us. Typically these places have some boards outside describing what dishes are on offer, but of course we can't read any of this. Unless there are pictures, or plastic displays showing what the dishes look like, it is absolutely potluck.
 |
| The plastic food displays are quite remarkable |
By this stage we were cold and getting wet so just went inside. It turned out to be a place very much for the locals - we got a raised eyebrows and very interested looks cast briefly in our direction. The elderly waitress found a sheet of paper that translated six dishes on offer for lunch. We chose two and subsequently enjoyed two extremely tasty noodle soups. The waitress and elderly companions in the kitchen were very cheerful and we all got on well with sign language.
With no fixed plans for the rest of the day we thought it a good idea to head back to the train station to validate our rail pass in readiness for using it the next day. However the weather was very bleak so we just went back home to do some more blogging and preliminary packing until the weather improved. We ventured out again at 3pm. It was only a 30 minute walk to the terminal, and we've enjoyed all the various treks we've done over the last 4 days in Kanazawa. It was an easy process to get our rail passes set up to kick off the next day, and we also confirmed our train schedule for the trip to Takamatsu via Okayama.
We dribbled our way back home, then decided to detour back to the ceramic store we enjoyed so much the day before. John wanted to take a photo of it, but seeing it was still open at 6pm we just had to peep inside. Of course we ended up buying a few more little bits. It was a lot of fun and we had another chat with the owner.
 |
| Some random shopfronts |
We'd hoped to go back to a little local eatery we'd gone to with the boys for our last night in Kanazawa but, as often seemed to be the case, it wasn't open. Instead we went back to the local we'd had lunch at, and enjoyed another delicious meal, this time a set menu with 10 different little dishes. This was more expensive - but still under NZ$15. The food so far has been properly cheap and extremely tasty. Home to pack up.
 |
| Not bad for $15, including a hot towel, cups of tea and entertaining locals |