Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Monday 21st April 2014- Gosh its raining

The weather has changed and it rained overnight whilst Jennifer was still suffering from a stomach bug and so we had a slow start. We left Maebashi around 10.15 and took the expressway East and then North up to Nikko where it was also raining.
The journey up would have been nice as you could partly see the mountains and we also passed quite a lot of very old cherry trees which were flowering but were also losing their petals due to the rain. The Satnav took us very close to the Hotel, in fact we coiuld see it and its quite large but then it said turn left and we could not see a tradition road turning left and so continued on. The satnav then told us to drive North and East and then South back to where we were and asked us to turn right and again we could not see a traditional turning but then we saw a small road just a little bit wider than the car and 40 yards down the road a level crossing and this was it. Anyway we got there far too early for a 1500 check in and so we had a challenging few minutes as none of the reception staff could speak English but they just kept pointing to the 15.00 on the check in counter and so we took the hint and took off to find somewhere to park until the doors opened. We finished of the Sushi from Costco and also both enjoyed another apple turnover, boy they are good.
The rain was coming down quite hard and we also visited a very large supermarket for some milk but also to look at what else they sold for our next couple of days. We arrived back at the Hotel and they were all sweetens and smiles and a lady at the front door to offer help so clearly if you arrive outside of the chosen times you’re in trouble.
The room is overlooking a fast running stream in a valley with trees coming down the hillside and in the sun it would be quite beautiful but in the rain and mist, its not the best, however on the other side of the Hotel you would get a nice view of the railway, road houses and some hills in the mist.
After a couple of hours R & R we walked around the Hotel to check out the swimming pool etc. and then back to the room for cheese and bread and some Malbec for our tea or dinner. Jennifer’s stomach is not up to anything else at the moment and so we both hope overnight will cure her problem.
Its due to stop raining overnight and Wednesday is forecast to be fine along with the rest of the week.