Day 19 Matsumoto Castle and city

This morning we took our suitcases to reception to be forwarded for the last time, back to Tokyo and to the first hotel that we stayed in, seems like ages ago that we were there. A keen wind greeted us as we walked the 5 minutes from our hotel to the castle, which dates back around 400 years

Just as it started to rain, we headed into the castle. After removing our shoes we were able to climb to the top, along with the much smaller crowds.

There were 6 floors and the staircases got steeper, deeper and narrower the higher we climbed, not dissimilar to Himeji Castle.

With views from the top, luckily by this time it had stopped raining.

After a drink we wandered down Frog Street, a quaint brick street along the Metoba River which has been around since the 1500's and has frogs everywhere, particularly in the gift shops!

We found an American/Japanese bar/cafe called The Story House and indulged in pulled pork burger and fries, delicious! They were doing a very good trade in homemade cakes too.

After lunch we crossed the river

and walked along quiet streets

to a very modern shopping centre with car parking, full of shoppers and set over 5 floors. Matsumoto has a smaller population than Swindon but rather superior shopping opportunities.

Not sure that Amazon has as much of a hold here!

Early evening we went out for dinner to an Indian restaurant. It's very common to see restaurants full by 6 p.m. Lunch is eaten early too.

Then we headed back to the castle for some evening photos