Tim and I got married on August 3, as most of you know, enjoyed our honeymoon in Italy, flew back to the US for three days before moving to Japan. We were just getting over jetlag when we got to experience it again. We spent the first month and a half living out of suitcases in a hotel, apartment hunting, packing to move to our new home, unpacking again, and settling into life in Japan. Of course, this involved meeting new friends and going out to dinner and going to new places frequently. We were on the go all the time and barely had any alone time as newlyweds so we were excited to get to spend a weekend alone exploring Nagasaki. Ended up being the first 2 sunny days in a week! Beautiful weekend!
We left after work October 2 via subway to Hakata Train Station where we caught the Kamome express train. Both of us were impressed as this was not your typical Amtrak passenger train or dirty European train that we were used to from the summer. This train was aerodynamic (resembled the look of the Shinkansen, Japan's bullet train), sleek, shiny white, wooden (or fake wooden) floors, and leather chairs with tons of room! Very nice and not so expensive. Took about 2 hours from Fukuoka to Nagasaki.
Kamome Express Train to Nagasaki
Took a taxi from the Nagasaki train station to our hotel, ANA Hotel Nagasaki Glover Hill which had a very nice lobby, bell boy who walked us to our clean room, and had a view overlooking Oura Catholic Church, Glover Garden, and shops. Though dated, the room was fine.
After dropping our bags off, we ventured out into the city and took a street car to the Dejima Wharf area, walked around a bit before deciding on a restaurant. We chose a delicious Chinese restaurant, Red Lantern (not like your typical American Chinese restaurant) and enjoyed a great meal of Champon and dumplings.
Red Lantern Restaurant
Champon...mmmm!!!
Not the greatest pic of us with the FIS Sharks shirt and Tim's goofy pose!
more photos from travel to Nagasaki and night 1:
Nagasaki is known for other things besides the catastrophic Atomic Bomb. Champon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champon ), Castella ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castella ), and Shippoku, a full-course meal that blends the cuisine of Japan, China, and Europe, are all well known in Nagasaki. We brought Castella back for gifts for friends and for people who have helped us settle into Japan.
Strolled back to the hotel and hit the hay! Slept in on Saturday before heading out for some sightseeing. We started at #1 of 13 places on the sightseeing map and ended up accomplishing 3! We started at Oura Catholic Church which was built by French missionaries in 1864. The church is the oldest existing church in southern Japan and is designated a National Treasure. Oura Church is the oldest Gothic style wooden church in Japan. It was dedicated to the 26 Martyrs of Japan in 1865 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-six_Martyrs_of_Japan ).
exterior of Oura Catholic Church
stained glass (replaced after atomic bomb)
Sarah outside church
Next we went to Glover Garden ( http://www.glover-garden.jp/ ) where we spent the majority of the day. It was a gorgeous day and we took our time going on a "Scavenger Hunt" to find all of the places in the guide map. Thomas Blake Glover, from Scotland, built a house on the hill in the Minami-Yamate part of town in Nagasaki in 1863. Nagasaki was full of energy and had many European merchants pursuing dreams of fortune at the time. Today, the memories of Glover's life in Nagasaki with his wife and children remain.
entering the garden
tea and castella at the Tea House
Touching a heart-shaped stone will make your dreams of love come true!
Here is the first stone.
The Glover House and it's heart shaped garden.
Perhaps the inspiration for the Kirin beer dogs was found inside the Glover House.
If you find both stones good things will come. We found both!
Since Champon is a specialty, we went to Chinatown for dinner. It was the cutest Chinatown I've ever seen! Very small and quaint with tons of yellow lanterns hanging down to let you know you were in Chinatown. We splurged at Kyokaen Chinese Restaurant since we skipped lunch! We enjoyed our dinner of special champon, fried rice, sauteed shrimp and broccoli, spring rolls, and dumplings.
lanterns in Chinatown
our Chinese feast
Tim found his Halloween mask!
After dinner we stumbled upon a mini festival that we assumed was a preview of the big festival in Nagasaki that was coming up the following week. It's always during the week so nobody from my school gets to go.
more Nagasaki, Day 2 pictures:
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