Kanazawa, Baby!

My little Suzuki Alto made a journey out of Fukui and into Ishikawa prefecture today - and all of the car's passengers (and the car itself) happily lived to tell the tale. Destination: Kanazawa City, a bustling metropolis of 458,000 which provided me which a much-needed urban fix. I've been in the rice paddies too long!

The Alto braved the Hokuriku Expressway, where it topped out at 100 kph (a whopping 60 mph). I cried inside as little old ladies in Japanese Buicks scowled as they flew past me. I cried out loud when we learned our round-trip toll fare would be 3,000 yen ($30). Ouch.

Once in the city, our first stop was Kanazawa-jo. The castle was lovely, but the highlight was a fellow JET's find of a severed statue head in a pile of rocks. Nice work, John!

Next stop was the Ninja-dera, a temple blessed with trick staircases, hidden rooms, ritual suicide chambers and a bit of a checkered past. Samurais used to hang out there, ostensibly "on call" to protect royalty in the temple and at the nearby castle. We, of course, weren't allowed to take pictures of all of this secrecy, so you'll have to visit to see for yourselves!

We visited Kenrokuen Garden, designated as one of the top three gardens in the country. I felt like I'd walked inside a calendar photo - everywhere I turned, well-manicured beauty abounded. We paused to get pictures at a lakeside vista and then headed for dinner at....

....FRESHNESS BURGER.

What excursion to a large Japanese city would be complete without this piece of Americana? Complete with English-language menus and Heinz 57 ketchup, Freshness Burger served up a mean meat patty. I stuck to my veggie-lovin' ways and had a salad and shake, but may have to come back to feed an onion ring craving in the very near future.

Kanazawa, we heart you.