Nagano 🎿

From Yokohama we continue north to Nagano. Because Japan was generally more of a spontaneous stop, I didn't really plan anything or find out what to do there. When I read Nagano, I thought to myself I have to go there because the restaurant where Ruby and I always went in Salzburg is called Nagano. Just like the restaurant, the place itself was a real hit. The train took about 3 hours from Yokohama to Nagano. For the last 2 hours we only drove through snow and blizzards. At first I wasn't sure what to think about it but pretty quickly it turned into joy. When I arrived in Nagano itself there was no snow, which was fine with me because I have almost nothing in my backpack that would be suitable for snow. I then brought my backpack to the hostel and was greeted so warmly that I immediately felt at home. I then set out to explore the sights of the city that were recommended to me in the hostel. I looked at the famous temple where supposedly the oldest or one of the oldest Buddha statues are kept. Unfortunately you can't see it, it's only put on display every 6 years. The garden around it and the temple itself are really beautiful and worth a visit. There are always a lot of souvenir shops and food stalls at the entrance to the temples and shrines. Usually the whole thing looks a bit like a fair, but here in Nagano the stalls are like typical old Japanese houses and so they really look pretty nice. I then looked at one or two viewpoints and looked at the snow-white Japanese Alps all around. All the more the thought of going skiing couldn't shake my mind. After all, skiing was or is the only thing I really missed while traveling this year. After I asked myself whether that was even possible, it became clear pretty quickly that I would go to Nozawaonsen the next day. After I spent the afternoon in a café and planned everything, I went back into town for dinner in the evening. The next day started early because the journey to Nozawaonsen took about 45 minutes but it was definitely worth it to be on the slopes. Then I borrowed all the equipment and off we went on the slopes. It didn't take a single descent before I realized that I had never skied so badly before, but even that didn't matter to me because at least I was skiing in Japan in fantastic weather. I could never have even imagined being able to experience this on my trip before. Then spent the whole day on skis! In the evening we took the bus and train back to Nagano. Unfortunately the weather the next day wasn't so good, but I still made my way to Matsumoto in the morning. I took a look at the castle and the city there. After it started to rain more, I drove on to the next town in the hope that it wouldn't rain there. Of course I left my rain jacket at the hostel. Well, unfortunately I thought wrong, but I still walked to the lake called Suwa now that I'm there. Well, unfortunately the view wasn't that great, but it doesn't matter, you can still go for a walk. Soaking wet, we headed back to Nagano later in the afternoon. I have to say one thing: taking the train around here is really fun. First of all, the trains are super comfortable, on time and really always go through the country and you can see quite a lot of the countryside. The evening was spent like everyone else here in Nagano in the hostel with hot water bottles, tea, Japanese puzzle games and the fun company of travelers and locals. Therefore, it is basically quite difficult to come into contact with the locals here because almost no one speaks English or some are too afraid to speak, so it was quite exciting to find out a little more about life in Japan. The next day I headed south again to Osaka! 🫶🏼🎿