I woke up and decided not to rush around to the castle or temple first thing and instead went to get the train from the nearby station. A website had said there was a cheap train for 49 which I assumed went through this station but there was only a 710 ticket so I got that which was for a JR train with a change. The train went to central Osaka before I found the right platform and headed west getting there around 9. I headed south to a park with some statues and monuments and then carried on across a bridge over a motorway to a port area where there was supposed to be some artwork but there was nothing. I went back north and came to a pearl museum which had just opened as it was 10. The museum was small and I started to look around when the curator came and spoke to me in quite good English and was friendly and gave me his business card. Kobe it seems is where most pearls are processed, especially sea pearls. I looked around and then left to find the lamp museum but it seems it was closed. I carried on west and almost missed the city museum but it cost ¥1,300 and I knew I didn't have that much time to get around and make the sake breweries on time. The security person on the door recommended Chinatown to me which having come from China wasn't as appealing as it would normally be. I headed to the sea where there was a tower visible above the buildings. When I got there I found an earthquake garden which was a memorial area for the Kobe earthquake in the 90's. There was also a maritime museum which cost ¥600 and had lots of school kids going in so I gave that a miss. The tower also cost ¥600 and wasn't that high. I headed north on a walkway and then went east and found a naval museum that wasn't on the maps. It seemed ok with lots of detail about boat specifications and had models as well but all the writing was in Japanese. The next museum was on Chinese immigrants and I'd wanted to visit this but despite being ¥300 it didn't look like it had any English translations so I went north to Chinatown which was really busy with lots of teenagers so I squeezed past and left the area going north and west where I had bookmarked places but they were small places not worth seeing. I went back east to another shrine and used the toilet there. There were more places bookmarked like a museum with lots of tourists around and an entry fee that didn't seem worth it. I had trouble as there wasn't the path through where I expected but I got some directions and found the path which went uphill a fair bit along a stream which had waterfalls. The walk was nice and I carried on up and walked along a path up a hill to the top but there was no view, so I went back to the main path and carried on to the reservoir. I went back down a slightly different route, stopping for a view on the way. I got back down and came to the main train station and I was going to the tools museum when I saw a French man who looked lost. He wanted the waterfall path and I sent him the way I'd come which wasn't the best path. The tools museum wasn't worth it and there were more museum places which were ¥3,000 entry to all combined. It was a long walk to where I was going do I went to a shop and got some food, but needed hot water for the pot noodle so I ate the other food first. After a while I came to a museum to the earthquake which looked ok but cost ¥600 and nearby was an art museum for ¥500 both of which I gave a miss. It was a long walk to the brewery so I put some music on and borrowed a shopping trolley so I wouldn't have to carry my heavy bag for a while. I arrived at the sake brewery at 3pm and it was still open for a while so I went past to the other brewery which had the same closing time. I went in and got shown a room where I watched a DVD, then looked around a museum room with only Japanese notices. I went to their shop and did some tasting and the plum wines were nice. I left and went to the first place where they had videos at stop points around the museum. There was a tour group who were quite loud so I tried to avoid them and I used the free WiFi to book a hostel in Nara, but I wasn't sure if it was the best choice and the price increased so I didn't book it. I finished looking around and went to the tasting area which was DIY with cups laid out with sake in. I was feeling the effects a bit and I left and went to the nearby train station where the ticket back was just ¥390. There was WiFi there on the platform so I booked a Nara hostel for 13 USD. I'd rushed around Kobe a bit and walked a fair way but I'd seen a fair bit although I did later find out there was a free view from city hall there. The train was slow and kept stopping and at one place the train emptied except for an old man and me and then he got off and I was worried but the train did carry on the right way and I was back central so I went to a nearby subway Umeda which I took a couple of stops east to Tennagoshi. I got out and walked to the castle and could see the walls and moat. to sleep.It was getting dark so I expected the castle to be shut but the path into the castle was open and I wandered in to the central where there was a nice big keep which was a Japanese wooden style. It was went closed but I got close and it looked good. I left and ignored the museum as it was gone 5.30 and it would no doubt be closed. I planned a route back which took me past a church that was big and square shaped. From there it was a long walk back and I got there at 7.50. I ate and had a shower and then headed out and rushed to the comedy venue where I arrived at 8.55, so a bit early. It was ¥1,000 entry and it looked empty just 3 people were there. I needed change for my 10k note which took a while and I sat at the front. There were about 6 or 7 acts and they were ok, the compere was from New Zealand and thought I looked like a Brendan and when I said my actual name he said he didn't know why he said Brendan who's called Brendan anyway so I said Fraser but he said I was just shouting another persons name now. The entrance ticket guy was from England and did a joke about how polite the Japanese are and picked up on there being no bins which I'd said when asked what I thought of Japan. Someone mentioned the toilet with the buttons and an American had talked about his Japanese wife. Apart from one Japanese guy at the end the others were English speaking foreigners and when it finished they went upstairs for a drink but I went back to the hotel and it was fairly late gone 11, but I picked up food on way. I got back and watched some of the film "before the flood"and then went to sleep.
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