Shikoku

Thursday was a holiday this week and because I worked last Saturday for Sports' Day, I got this Friday off, too. So, the four-day weekend was a perfect opportunity to take a trip with my LOLs.
This trip's destination was Shikoku Island -- the smallest of Japan's four main islands.

We flew over this cute little island, too, but I don't know what it's called.

Our first stop -- and main purpose for visiting the island -- was to see the Naruto whirlpools. These whirlpools are created when two different sea currents collide. We decided to take a boat ride into the center of the whirlpools. Although there was a big boat and a little boat that gave the tour, we decided to ride the little one because it was departing first. Personally I liked it because it had a glass bottom observation room.

Here is a mini naruto

Once we got into the center of the whirlpools, we were allowed on deck. I braved the top deck and felt like Jonah as we tossed and turned. Unfortunately, we didn't go at the changing of the tide (the best time) but it was still quite a sight to see.

Below is a picture of a picture taken by a professional of the naruto in peak season.

Once we arrived back on shore, it was time for me to introduce my now very green LOLs to the wonders of ginger-ale for an upset stomach. Thankfully, the boat tour's souvenir shop sold it!

After we all found our land-legs again, it was off to the Sistine Chapel!

Okay, I lie. It was actually the Otsuka Museum which prides itself in having accurate, life-sized reproductions of many famous paintings. So, they were accurate and life-sized, however, they were also big poster panels! To me it was like walking through a bunch of rooms with a bunch of fancy wallpaper. Oh well, I guess you can't win all the time!

To me, the coolest part of the museum was this robot who independently scouted around talking about the different pictures. He and lunch (real pot roast with real mashed potatoes accompanied by real butter and real bread!) definitely made the poster museum not a complete disappointment!

Next it was off to the bridge over the naruto. This bridge had glass panels so viewers could see the whirlpools. Unfortunately, they were really small at this point, but I still enjoyed taking pictures of the scenery. There was also the really sweet old guy who worked there and was so excited to use his English that he gave me two postcards and some origami as a "Thank you for visiting Shikoku" present. My LOLs were jealous :-)

That night we stayed in a lovely hotel with a "Make your own Japanese noodles" buffet for dinner and a "Make your own sandwich" buffet for breakfast. While I didn't do too bad in the morning, dinner was a bit tricky. Instead of choosing between either meat sauce or alfredo sauce like in an Italian restaurant, the choices were such things as raw eggs, seaweed, fish flakes, sesame seeds, and ginger!

The next morning found us at the Bando Museum -- a memorial for German POWs who were in Japan during WWI. Unfortunately, most of the displays were in either German or Japanese, but I did learn that the situation was integral in introducing the Japanese to the West because the POWs taught the locals how to bake breads and cake and make butter. Also, there were a lot of musicians in the camp, and they gave the first concert of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Japan. Who, what, where, when, how, and why escaped me in the translation, but hey, I got a photo with Beethoven (and a yummy German Bratwurst for lunch!)

The next three hours found us driving deeper and deeper into Shikoku. I slept quite a bit because I was absolutely exhausted, but managed to snap a few pictures along the way.

We finally reached the kazurabashi -- a suspension bridge made of vines dangling forty-five feet above the ground! It was originally made a long time ago, and has since been preserved to show how ancient Japanese crossed incredibly rocky and fast-moving rivers.

While I wasn't too afraid of it breaking (it had thick cable supports throughout) it was a bit scary to realize that the holes between each rung were bigger than my foot. Knowing that I am the worlds' biggest klutz had me clinging to the side the whole way across. I didn't want to lose a shoe or anything else important if I tripped!

After crossing the bridge, we found a really pretty waterfall...

...then it was off to our incredible ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) for the night! Here we were greeted with tea service in our tatami room.

After changing into our provided yukata, we road a cablecar up the mountain to a private outdoor bath.

Once we reached the top, we found ourselves in the midst of a magical forest complete with koi fish ponds, tea houses, stone lanterns and bamboo.

(Here is a picture of the bath I stole off of another website since I didn't dare smuggle my camera into the actual bath part!)

After a relaxing soak, we found ourselves whisked away to dinner...

...complete with fish on a stick cooking in the middle of our "table". I tried to imagine it was a chicken leg -- a tad bit challenging when the fish was staring back at me the whole time I was chomping down on its flesh.

After returning to our room, we found our futon beds already laid out.
It was like one big sleepover that night with really comfortable sleeping bags!

Morning came with another bath and then a traditional Japanese breakfast.
However, seven fifteen is a bit challenging to eat eyeballed fish and fermented beans (especially with no coffee as a comfort!)

After breakfast, we began our three-hour trek back to the airport only stopping to take pictures of the Obokekoboke Valley (try saying that three times fast) and to get coffee for the young blondie who could once again not keep up with the energy of her three LOLs!