The day before, I suddenly thought of going to Gifu.
This time, I’m going to Gifu on a packed day trip, so let’s get started without any preamble.
I bought a Shinkansen ticket at Shinagawa Station on the day.
I locked on the 11:55 Shinkansen Nozomi bound for Hiroshima.
On the day, I bought my Shinkansen ticket at the ticket machine first, then went back into Shinagawa Station and got the lunch box from Tsukada Farm that I had decided on.
I wonder when was the last time I rode a Shinkansen. My memory is hazy like a white mist floating on the surface of a lake, and I can’t get a clear outline. Riding a Shinkansen is always exciting.
To get to Gifu, I first went to Nagoya,
and then changed to a train bound for Ogaki, and confirmed the schedule to arrive at Gifu Station in about 20 minutes.
But isn’t that a little too leisurely?
If I arrive at this time, I probably won’t have time for sightseeing, but it can’t be helped.
That’s the origin of the spontaneous travel.
The reason why I wanted to go to Gifu is very clear. One reason is that I had never been to Gifu before. The other reason is that when I was in elementary school, I was obsessed with making plastic models of castles. The exterior of Gifu Castle was so impressive that I had always wanted to see it with my own eyes.
リンク
Since I was there, I planned to go to Monet’s Pond as well, but I gave up because I felt that it was a bit too much to do as a day trip.
That’s only natural, at this time of day. But I still wanted to see this beautiful pond.
I planned to enjoy Gifu Castle and Gifu cuisine before returning home.
I left for Nagoya.
I got on the Shinkansen and started eating the bento I bought, and by the time I arrived at Shin-Yokohama, I had almost finished it.
Soon after, I arrived in Nagoya. From Nagoya Station, I boarded the train to Ogaki from platform 5 and arrived in Gifu.
It was an easy task for someone who traveled all over the country.
On the way, I saw a castle near Kiyosu Station.
I wonder if this is Kiyosu Castle, famous for the Kiyosu Conference.
I took the photo in a hurry, so it’s not very good.
The train seemed to be racing down a long straight line, and it seemed to be going quite fast.
I tried measuring my speed with an app and it was 100km.
Even though it slowed down along the way, it was still around 90km.
The scenery outside the window was quickly swept away behind me.
Most of the stations the train stopped at were in Aichi Prefecture, but there were a few more stations called Gifu, and we entered Gifu Prefecture.
And then we arrived at Gifu Station.
I had traveled through the long-awaited land of Gifu.
I had arrived in the long-awaited Gifu.
I had eaten a lunch box from Tsukada Farm on the Shinkansen, so my appetite was satisfied.
It was 14:15, so I decided to head straight for Gifu Castle.
I took a bus from Gifu Station and got off at “Gifu Park History Museum Mae” – about 230 yen.
Whenever I go to the countryside, I always buy a local transportation IC card. This time, I bought a TICA card, forgetting that I had bought one in Nagoya, so I used the charge to get on the bus.
After walking towards Kinkasan for a while, I could see the small Gifu Castle tower on the top of the mountain in the distance.
I was deeply moved that it was so far away.
I couldn’t go to Monet’s Pond, so I decided to make a virtual Monet’s Pond at the pond in the park.
I took the ropeway halfway up Kinkasan, and from there I just kept climbing to the top.
I had previously climbed Mt. Takao on Route 4, so I thought that some mountain paths would be a piece of cake, but it was quite hard.
Well, maybe not exactly, but the amount of sweat running down my T-shirt was incredible.
And finally, the castle tower was close by.
This is Gifu Castle, which I’ve admired since I was in elementary school!! I was face to face with the castle tower I had seen before the plastic model
Inside the Gifu site, the history of Lord Nobunaga and others was introduced
From the top of the castle tower, you can see the Nagara River
It’s a pretty nice view The wind is blowing strongly here and the heat is gradually subsiding
I’d like to walk down the mountain, but what do you think?
I asked the ropeway attendant
The roads may be bad due to the rain in the morning, so it’s better to take the ropeway down the mountain as well
By the way, how long would it take to walk?
It would probably take about 40 minutes
Even considering enjoying Gifu gourmet food after descending the mountain and the return Shinkansen, it seemed like it would be too long to walk down the mountain
Give up
Was the Tsukada Farm lunch box too strong?
I wanted to try the ramen at Maru Debu Honten, a restaurant that former NSB48 member Hori Mio always visits when he comes home, but Tsukada Farm had a bigger influence than I thought, and I didn’t want to eat it at all. Ramen is tough. I had no choice but to look for souvenirs from Gifu.
I caught a climbing sweetfish
I thought it would be a good idea to go to Nagoya and eat some kishimen(soul foof at NAGOYA), so I headed straight for Nagoya
I decided to wander around Nagoya on my way back
The concourse at Nagoya Station was overflowing with people
I wondered why it was so crowded
The Yaesu underground shopping mall at Tokyo Station is usually crowded, but Nagoya seems even worse
I decided to go to Nagoya’s “Ekikama Kishimen”
There was a line at Chuo-dori, so I moved to the Ekikama Kishimen Taiko-dori store
Maybe because it’s on the side of the street, there was no one in line
That means the Chuo-dori store might not be the place where locals come to eat
I ordered chilled meat kishimen
I ordered it cold because it was hot after hiking.
This gives me a little cooling sensation.
It’s pretty good, but it feels a little weaker than the impact of the Kishimenya I ate standing on the Shinkansen platform when I came to Nagoya.
Memories may always be beautified and exaggerated.
Let’s look back on this trip.
The return Shinkansen was a reserved seat on the Nozomi train.
Luckily I was sitting by the window, but the sun went down after a while, so I didn’t really enjoy the benefits of sitting by the window. I can’t say. Maybe because I was tired from Gifu Castle, I was half asleep on the way back. The train arrived at Shinagawa around 19:30.
Actually, I could have gone to a cafe and relaxed before going back, but I just went home.
I was very satisfied today because I was able to see Gifu Castle, which I had longed to do.
Gifu is famous for Shirakawa-go, Takayama morning market, and cormorant fishing on the Nagara River, but I wasn’t particularly interested in any of them, and it was clear that it was mission impossible in terms of time.
Probably even Ethan Hunt couldn’t do it. I also wanted to see cormorant fishing, but in any case, it’s not something you can do in a day trip.
If you feel like it, Gifu is still full of attractive things to see.
I never thought the lunch box from Tsukada Farm that I ate at lunchtime when we passed Shin-Yokohama would be so good! I missed out on Maru Debu Ramen, but I’ll be happy that I was able to go to Gifu.