Outbound to Gufu + Tokyo Japan, Day 9 of 19, October 12, 2017
Gifu Farewell, Off on a Bus Tour
Farewell Gifu, start Kyoto/Nara tour. Depart by bus for Shirakawago and Kanazawa. Din on our own.Thursday October 12 Farewell to our hosts!
Group 1:
By: Pat G and Johanna BSaying goodbye is always an emotional time in Friendship Force. Our bus was waiting for us at 9 am and an English speaking guide provided by Japan Travel Bureau to help us explore Kanazawa. But first we had to hug, say thank you, cry, and repeat it over and over again. In fact as I am writing this I have tears in my eyes😢. I truly never thought I would make it to Japan let alone have the experience of staying in a Japanese home and living their life for a week.
Before we arrived at the 🚌 we took the children to preschool. Mai, our 5 years old , went into her preschool crying, telling her teacher she was crying because Jo and Pat were leaving!
This is a village of large A-frame homes with steeped peaked thatched roofs. The roofs last 50-100 years. The homes themselves last 250 years.
The income from this village was generated from the production of silk worms to silk. This village was never bombed during WWII because it did not have major industry, just the silk worm industry .
We drove through multiple tunnels on our way through mountainous regions to this village, including one tunnel that was 6 miles in total length!
After lunch, a view of the entire village from above,
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Group 2:
By Roz W.
Goodbye to our Hosts and Japanese Home
Today is sad for us as we say goodbye to our wonderful new friends, Kiyoko-san and Hiro-san. They have both been hospitable, gracious, and have taken excellent care of us. We are not alone in our appreciation of the unique, and well planned, experience that the Friendship Force Gifu Club has provided for us as a group and as individuals in their homes.
Kiyoko-san and Hiro-san have shared their home, prepared meals for us, helped us with the laundry, laughed with us, answered numerous questions for us, played games with us; and today they were the first friends with whom we shared the joyful news we received of our fourth grandchild being born!
We are simultaneously happy and sad. Happy, happy for news that all is well with mommy and baby. Sad, sad, to say goodbye to our friends here in Gifu.
Happy, happy that our Gifu friends will be coming to Sacramento next fall. Anxious, anxious to return home to be with family and welcome our newest family member and hug all of the rest, but that will have to wait until we return home in 12 days.
Today, we are off again with our Sacramento journey group in a chartered tour bus to Kanazawa, via Shirakawa-go, UNESCO World Heritage Site of a Traditional Village, Shirakawa-go
Two Friendship Force leaders from the Gifu club are accompanying our group. We have a big bus in which we are all luxuriously spread out and have an English speaking tour guide, Miwa-sun.
It is drippy, misty today as we begin to climb the mountains. We are a little over 3,000 feet elevation in the valley of Shirakawa-go. The mountains continue climb upward. Several meters of snow carpet the village every year.
Today there is no snow and the trees are displaying their fall colors.
We arrived around 11:45, and spent a couple of hours wandering through the picturesque village and having lunch at a local restaurant. Enjoy the photos below:
In Friendship and Peace
 |
| Goodbye to our Hosts and Japanese Home |
Today is sad for us as we say goodbye to our wonderful new friends, Kiyoko-san and Hiro-san. They have both been hospitable, gracious, and have taken excellent care of us. We are not alone in our appreciation of the unique, and well planned, experience that the Friendship Force Gifu Club has provided for us as a group and as individuals in their homes.
Kiyoko-san and Hiro-san have shared their home, prepared meals for us, helped us with the laundry, laughed with us, answered numerous questions for us, played games with us; and today they were the first friends with whom we shared the joyful news we received of our fourth grandchild being born!
We are simultaneously happy and sad. Happy, happy for news that all is well with mommy and baby. Sad, sad, to say goodbye to our friends here in Gifu.
Happy, happy that our Gifu friends will be coming to Sacramento next fall. Anxious, anxious to return home to be with family and welcome our newest family member and hug all of the rest, but that will have to wait until we return home in 12 days.
Today, we are off again with our Sacramento journey group in a chartered tour bus to Kanazawa, via Shirakawa-go, UNESCO World Heritage Site of a Traditional Village, Shirakawa-go
Two Friendship Force leaders from the Gifu club are accompanying our group. We have a big bus in which we are all luxuriously spread out and have an English speaking tour guide, Miwa-sun.
It is drippy, misty today as we begin to climb the mountains. We are a little over 3,000 feet elevation in the valley of Shirakawa-go. The mountains continue climb upward. Several meters of snow carpet the village every year.
Today, we are off again with our Sacramento journey group in a chartered tour bus to Kanazawa, via Shirakawa-go, UNESCO World Heritage Site of a Traditional Village, Shirakawa-go
Two Friendship Force leaders from the Gifu club are accompanying our group. We have a big bus in which we are all luxuriously spread out and have an English speaking tour guide, Miwa-sun.
It is drippy, misty today as we begin to climb the mountains. We are a little over 3,000 feet elevation in the valley of Shirakawa-go. The mountains continue climb upward. Several meters of snow carpet the village every year.
Today there is no snow and the trees are displaying their fall colors.
We arrived around 11:45, and spent a couple of hours wandering through the picturesque village and having lunch at a local restaurant. Enjoy the photos below:
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