Misty Kanazawa

Leaving Kyoto under a cloudy sky this morning, we nailed all of our train connections and made it to a rainy Kanazawa around noon.  After unpacking and checking out the kitchen in our apartment, we went up the street to Aptiva which, when you enter, is laid out like a department store and then, if you keep walking, turns into a supermarket.  Imagine walking into Macy’s and ending up at Whole Foods.  Also imagine a supermarket where the principal item in the deli section is fish.  We loaded up on all sorts of tidbits one can’t get in America like Matcha Kit-Kats. (Matcha is a finely ground green tea that gives a grassy taste to the candy bar.) 

For dinner we headed out into the misty city and wended our way down an alley to an excellent restaurant where we had a sashimi bowl with eight different types of fish on ice along with a sliced bonito plate and squid au gratin.

The wet streets added a gleam to the traffic.

And the mist made crossing the bridge leading to our apartment look like an impressionist painting.

There’s nothing quite like early evening lights on a quiet street to make one feel instant nostalgia.

And for a sense of mystery, a dark shrine by the river fits the bill.