Monday, September 25. Again, we followed the same routine. However, we took a break after lunch to go outside and walk around the hospital, On a back corner we found a tori marking the entrance to a path going up the wooded mountainside, but we never got back to climb it.

 

 

 

 

We had been paying cash for everything because no one would accept a U.S. credit card.  Now we were running low on yen and needed to find an ATM that took our card. So while Jane went back to the hospital, Darrell went lto find an ATM. First he asked at the hotel desk if there was one nearby. While they were eager to help, it soon became obvious that none of the staff ever used an ATM, and they had no idea where any were, let alone any that would take a U.S. card. 

In the lobby, Darrell found a tourist magazine that showed banks on a map. Using that, he set out to find an ATM he could use. He walked miles and found more than a dozen ATMs, but none that took U.S. cards. Eventually he noticed that the map showed a post office (P.O.) near the train station just a few blocks from our hotel. He recalled that Tom had once said that the best place to change money in Japan was the P.O. When he got there, Darrell found several ATMs in an row just outside the P.O. where they were accessible even when the P.O. was closed.. The first ATM the tried took his card and even had instructions in English (and several other languages). 

For dinner that evening, we went to the Yakitori Ichibahn Hamaotsu just over a block from our hotel. Darrell found this place with the help of local tourist magazine that said that it was centuries old and very traditional. It did look very old, but apparently it had been puchased by a chain. Still, it seemed to have retained its ancient charm. It was very small and dimly lit, and all in dark wood. The few tables were all occupied, so we sat at the bar.

None of the small staff spoke English, but they had a one-page menu in very poor English. Another customer at the bar knew a few words in English and tried to help. He suggested that we order only a few items, then order more if we were still hungry. The four skewers of charcoal-grilled meat in our initial order took an inordinate amount of time to come. It was absolutely delicious, but the portions were much smaller than we expected. Even with the side dishes we had ordered, we were still hungry. We would like to have ordered more, but we did not want another long wait. As it was, it was even a lengthy process to pay our bill. But it definitely was an experience.