Travel: Places you're going, places you've been.
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@Nocturama all those trips sound awesome. Bdays are perfect excuse, even if they aren’t yours.
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@ARNC said in Travel: Places you're going, places you've been.:
@Nocturama sounds great. It’s ages since I visited Tuscany and maybe they’re too far south for your trip, but Montalcino and Montepulciano are both worth a visit. It doesn’t hurt that both are associated with great wines!
Actually @ARNC , my colleague’s wife is in the wine industry, so I’m hoping to get the inside track on Tuscan wines from her, but I will cast an eye over M & M, if only to try to show a level of knowledge that belies my actual knowledge on the subject!
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@Nocturama sounds like a useful contact – if you’re trying to impress, make sure you don’t forget that Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (what we’re looking at here) has nothing to do with the Montepulciano grape variety or Montepulciano d’Abruzzo!
“Every day that you survive you get a free sunset“
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@alexxedge said in Travel: Places you're going, places you've been.:
We are also going to making day trips to Koyasan
If you can, I suggest trying to book temple lodgings for one night in Koyasan (eko-in was nice for us). It's quite the trek there from Osaka Namba and it's totally worth seeing Okunoin during both day and night. Plus you'll get to hear flying squirrels at night. If it's only a day trip, definitely see about going to Kadohama Goma-tofu honpo for lunch to try the many varieties of tofu they make there.
Re IH Osaka, also it's not too bad of a trek to Hachioji from Tokyo to go to the mothership and maybe get to meet Harakisan.
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@pechelman that sounds awesome. Not sure it’s in the cards for an overnighter, but I’ll definitely be adding that lunch spot to my list. For as small of a town as it looks to be, there are so many food options.
Definitely hitting IH Osaka, trying to determine if I can/should subject my wife to the lengthy train and bus rides to hit Hachioji. Would be sick, though.
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The actual town of Koyasan felt a bit more commercial than I was expecting to be honest, lots of shops selling souvenirs , but it's such a nice relaxing place once you get off the main strip. I wish we had another day to hike around the mountains. You'll have a great time no matter what you do there and Japan in general. Last year was our first trip too and we're heading back this Nov/Dec.
For arm twisting with Hachioji, there's this place that looks fun. https://soranews24.com/2022/12/05/japanese-conveyor-belt-restaurant-delivers-food-by-boat-in-tokyo/
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@ARNC - heaven forfend! I’m uneducated, not a damned heathen!
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@pechelman the real draw of Koysan was Okunoin Cemetery and some of the other temples. The other day trip from Osaka we were thinking about was Katsuo-ji, where there are seemingly thousands of daruma. I studied printmaking in college, and the idea of getting to do the stamp/print postcard as you travel through the grounds is right up my alley.
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We didnt get passport stamp books and kind of regret it now. The lines sometimes for stamps did look long at some temples, but it would have been fun to capture all of the ones we went to. We're planning to visit Katsuo-ji this trip since we'll have more time staying in Osaka. Also I'd recommend a day trip to Nara to visit those temples, the giant buddha, feed the deer, eat some really great udon and pudding, and visit a couple of the gardens that I honestly preferred to Kenroku-en. If you want, I can share our itinerary with you @alexxedge via pm if you'd like.
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@pechelman I’m never going to say no to new information and help. I’ve gone deep on planning, and honestly have had so much planning.
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@ARNC we spent 4 days in Montalcino on our honeymoon two summers ago. That little village was one of the highlights of our time in Italy. The wine is incredible. We shipped back a case from a winery there.
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@Mizmazzle it really is! Things might have changed since I was there, but you could just roll up and buy the wine at small producers for a fraction of the price it fetches back home. As I was young and poor at the time, shipping a case wasn’t on the cards. It was more wrapping a few bottles in clothes and hoping they’d survive the flight home!
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Spent our anniversary in Telluride recently, so beautiful. Also stopped by Ouray and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison which was hot but amazing!
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Grand Lake, Colorado. Much more of a down to earth mountain town compared to Telluride, but still the houses people have there are nuts.
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@alexxedge So many great places to check out for denim while you’re there, but my pick would be around Ueno station in Tokyo. Hinoya and Americaya are a couple of great shops under the train tracks with a wide variety of Japanese denim brands. So many things catching your eye while walking through the busy market. It’s also a great place to grab some food and drink with its many small restaurants and narrow streets. On a side note, I met my wife for the first time at Ueno station over 25 years ago so I might be a bit biased. Have a great trip and look forward to seeing your pictures.
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@Denman-John that’s great confirmation on some of the research I’ve done for denim hunting. The first fill day we have in Tokyo is going straight up to Ueno to hit all three Hinoya spots, and to explore that whole area. Just have to make sure I don’t blow the denim budget immediately. I’ve been lurking the Hinoya site as well as the IH Japan site for a general idea of stock. But I won’t really know until I’m actually there. In the end, I’m at a point in life where we could make this happen and I’m going to soak up every bit of the trip. Couldn’t be happier.
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1000% agree with going to Ueno as well in Tokyo for denim, leather, drinking, great food, and everything. Just south of there still under the train tracks is 2k540 artisan market that has a chup sock store and many other cool things with handmade leather goods, umbrellas, and stuff like that.
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@pechelman very cool! I’ve got some pretty specific photo spots saved in my maps around that area, too. Can’t wait.
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