As most people know, compatible traveling companions is everything when on any trip. Traveling is challenging enough even when everyone gets along. Luckily we were all doing great! Having no itinerary would drive some people crazy, but for us it meant the flexibility of changing plans based on mood, weather, fatigue, and wishes. No one gets their feelings hurt if there’s a change, or if someone wants to do something separately. We may coax (“Come on…….”) or cajole (“Don’t you love me?”), or roll our eyes if someone forgets something. Little annoyances or crankiness are brushed away pretty quickly, with another adventure, for better or worse, awaits! Plus everyone makes an effort. Priscila and I volunteered to be on dishwashing. Todd’s on trash and cleaning out the little sink drain (kinda captures the crumbs in lieu of a disposal) because that’s man’s work, haha! Katie is on joy and effervescence and overall Japan expertise! Just getting 4 people out the door is a challenge, making sure everyone has their phones, jackets, money, umbrellas…especially when you can’t put your shoes on until the last minute. (I wonder if Japanese families have a place to sit and for shoeing and unshoeing by their front doors.) And traveling with adult kids is different because you can’t boss them around as much haha! I haven’t once said, “Would it kill you to take your dishes to the kitchen?!” or “Will you please stop leaving your laundry everywhere?!” We are just dandy! 🙂
Priscila it transpires is quite the cook. So a few days ago we were pretty enthusiastic at her offer to make scrambled eggs to go with pancakes we had seen at Family Mart. We had found some maple syrup at Kaldi’s so we were all set. When we went to buy the pancakes, however, there was only one package of 2 left. No problem, we found a couple more at 7-11. Altogether now: “Or so we thought!” The 7-11 pancakes were filled with………….idk, something dark and sweet and scary, like bean paste with white lumps like maybe potatoes in them??? I tried to eat them, I really did….this was before the eyeball incident and my declaration of no further experimentation. All I can say is they weren’t horrible. Oh well, we split the pancakes, added toast, and had excellent scrambled eggs!
Yesterday we decided to tackle a couple more things off the kids’ lists. If you google Osaka, you will see 2 main images: Running Man in Dotonbori and the Osaka Castle. So while I’d been to the castle twice and Katie more times than she can remember, it is just worth it every time. Plus, I had not gone inside the castle which is a museum and observation area.
Now that we are in another neighborhood, even the walks to the various train stations are full of discovery. This hilly walk included working areas, like automotive garages. And of course, another market. 
We switched trains once and were near Osaka Castle in about 35 minutes. This direction took me to an entrance I hadn’t used before. We noticed the lawn crew politely keeping the leaf blower from getting grass and dirt on passersby. 
Maybe we’d paid some of our “bad weather dues” by persevering in the rain the other day, because this day was warm and sunny. The new (to me) angles of the castle were gorgeous! 
Osaka Castle was first built in the 1500’s but has a long history of destruction (some purposeful and others not, including a lightning strike that burned it to the ground in the 1600’s) and battles for claiming the area.
In one area today we noticed hundreds of plastic bottles floating in the moat, almost as though a recycling truck had overturned. The park includes sporting areas and even a full arena, Osakajo Auditorium, where Katie got to see Britney Spears live last year 🙂
We stopped to take an amazing Mother’s Day picture that we couldn’t get in the pouring rain the day before 🙂 
Katie decided to read while the 3 of us went into the castle for 600 yen. There was a long line to get in, but Todd quickly realized it was to take the elevator to the top. So we opted for the non-existent line to climb the 8 flights up. We figured we could stop along the way to rest, but the signs said they wanted you to go to the top and work your way down. Tiring, but much better!
Up we went and as you can imagine, we were greeted by a lovely 360 degree view of the park and the city! 
Each floor on the way door had small, very nice displays and information. One floor was mostly photographs and models of the area, another including ancient masks, swords, guns, and full uniforms from centuries ago. For 500 yen, you could try on a kimono or mask and get your picture in front of a green screen.
I believe I mentioned before the time capsules that are in front of the castle. Two identical capsules were buried for the World Expo in 1970. One was reopened in 2000 and is scheduled to be reopened again every 100 years. The other capsule is buried below it and is scheduled to be opened in 5000 years…..6970 AD. The kids all agree that human life as we know it will no longer be here. In fact, other people looking at the site engaged us and said, “No way will we be here.” I talked to the kids and asked them why they thought that. After all, 5000 years ago it was only 3000 BC or so and millions of people roamed the Earth. I noted that human beings have such a great capacity to endure. Nevertheless, the vote is NO. Huh. Here is the link about the time capsules. They were extremely methodical about what went in the capsules and why, and built the entire mechanism to withstand the test of time and also measure the effects of time. http://panasonic.net/history/timecapsule/1/index.html
Only time will tell…..here’s hoping <3
Photo: Downtown Osaka from atop Osaka Castle; Osakajo Auditorium in foreground
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