BYE BYE HAKONE

Our last day in Hakone.

@Hakone Shrine, Hakone Checkpoint and the old & atmospheric Cedar Avenue

SAKURA SAKURA

Hakone was colder than Tokyo, so though there were nothing but leaves left in Tokyo during this trip, sakura trees in Hakone were still blooming! I especially loved the sweet little ones in Onshi Hakone Park, which was originally built to house an imperial vacation palace.

PLAY PEA PLAY!

So much fun that she slept in the car all the way back.

@The Hakone Open Air Museum

MIYANOSHITA & THE OLD FUJIYA

Little Miyanoshita was really a chance encounter this time round. I usually stay in the bigger towns in Hakone but due to our haphazard fly-in-two-weeks schedule we were out of options.

But it was a lucky thing, because we really liked it there.

Quiet enough to make us feel that we were really in the mountains but not lacking in the Lawsons and 7-elevens.

A lot of the eateries and shops were old, and looked like there have been there for a very long time.

And it's especially atmospheric when the fog decides to sweep in at night.

Of course one does not mention Miyanoshita without talking about the Fujiya Hotel.

I don't know how something can succeed in being so Japanese and Western at the same time.

I wonder what Albert Einstein and John Lennon thought of it.

Built in 1878, I find it rare that it's still a fully functioning hotel.

Beautiful beautiful details.

And I really liked that they were not afraid to leave things as they were.

Next time, I would really like to try checking-in.