A trip to Osaka
Originally posted on May 4th, 2014.
After arriving at the airport we took the Airport Line. It took us about 1 hour to Shin Imamiya which is the next stop near our hostel. As we wanted to have an affordable place to sleep very cheap, our hostel was not too luxurious. 😀 Actually some corners looked a little creepy. But the owners were very friendly and although our rooms were tiny we experienced to sleep on a traditional futon bed. ❤️
View from the Hostel, our tiny room.
After an ordeal arrival our first destination was the Amerikamura. It is a fashion and entertainment district for young people with many creative and modern clothes, coffee and food shops. As most of Osaka’s must-see places are located in the city center we walked to Dotombori which is large street with a lot of food places and is especially famous for Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki.
From upper left above to below right: Visiting the areas of Amerikamura, Dotombori and Shinsaibashi.
We took a round to the shopping street Shinsaibashi and then finally had Okonomiyaki for diner. Of course we also tried Sake, a rice fermented alcohol. Read more about what we ate in my post Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and Yakisoba.
Funny place we’ve also seen was one of the many game centers that Japan has. Not only young people go there but also working people who want to have an after work activity like this guy who danced really cool!
Really tired we took the subway back and slept really good in our tiny rooms. The next day we went to Kyoto early. See more about our Kyoto adventure in my post about Kyoto.
On the last days we came back from Kyoto and arrived in Osaka in the afternoon. Already during the last days we were really lucky with the weather. And as it was sunny with 26°C we took the bicycles from the hostel which they borrowed to their guests for free! I recognized already at my first time in Japan in Fukuoka and also this time in Osaka and Kyoto that the people drive a lot with bicycles. This is really likeable as I bicycle a lot back home in Hamburg too.
We biked to the city area we went the first time and had lunch at a sushi place which is of course so much cheaper and tastier than the french/german standard we know. The afternoon was basically filled with shopping and bicycle sightseeing until we had our last diner at an Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba place. This was a typical place for these dishes where the chef cooks your food in front of you on the large fry places and serves your food directly in front of you on the frying plate which is called Teppanyaki. 😄
Really filled up, tired but so happy we drove back on our bicycles through a perfect chilly night and enjoyed Osaka’s night lights for the last time.
