Day 267 - Himeji and Osaka

One of the most impressive and memorable places from my last visit was certainly Himeji castle, the only thing that spoilt the visit was the pouring rain during my last visit.
This time round the weather was perfectly fine but what kind of spoilt it was the huge scaffolding and cranes in front of the castle.

 

Ok, maybe I should have done my homework better when deciding to stay in Himeji, then I might have realised that they were working on restoring the castle for the past 5 years or so (almost right after my last visit).
Still, I was here so decided to make the best of it and see more of the castle grounds if the castle was covered in scaffolding.

Because of the restoration works in Himeji castle, the stay there was shorter than expected so I go to Osaka earlier by the local express train.

It was my first time in Osaka so I didn't know what to expect other than a big city but I was pleasantly surprised. It just felt different than other cities in Japan and it was also surprisingly cheap, almost too cheap for Japan.

While I didn't have too munch time to explore the city as I was meeting a friend in the evening, I really enjoyed walking around the city and taking photos of all the restaurants with big signs and statues of squid, crabs and other food items hanging on the façade.

The city has a great feel to it and while it feels bigger and with more energy than is small cities, it does not feel big either so it kind of just feels right. I kind of started to regret not having put aside more time for it but I will definitely be back here soon for a longer stay.

The evening was spent catching up and having drinks with a friend so this was great, it is always nice to catch up with people on my travels.