On the last but one day of our 8-day tour, we took an early train from Kyoto Station back to Osaka. One has the feeling that there is never going to be enough time to take in all the gems of the beautiful and historic Kyoto. It is all the more so, with Kyoto having such a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that every garden, temple, monument, alley, stream or river, demands to be appreciated leisurely, taking time, without rush. There are always reasons for one to come back to Kyoto, maybe just to see it in the colours of the different seasons. So it was with a feeling of being well satisfied with what we had seen and experienced in the past four days, yet eager for another future visit at a different time of the year, that we bid farewell to Kyoto and made our way back to where our tour began --- the vastly different, vibrant and cosmopolitan Osaka.
After checking in our hotel, we promptly set out to make the most of the day. We might well be among the very few tourists in Osaka who neither visit the famed shopping street Shinsaibashi 心斎橋, nor take the almost mandatory selfie in front of the iconic Glico Running Man, nor try out one of the seemingly countless restaurants in the Dotonbori 道頓堀 district. Well, we did do all of these in our previous trip. But this time we intended to see things that we missed out in that first trip to Osaka.
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| Back of Kaiyukan, Osaka |
We first headed for Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan 海遊館, located at the Osaka Tempozan Harbor Village, which can be reached by subway with Osakako Station 大阪港駅 being close-by. We had lunch in the Osaka Tempozan Harbor Village before spending a good part of the afternoon in Kaiyukan.
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| The Santa Maria harbour cruise ship at Osaka Bay |
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| The Santa Maria harbour cruise ship at Osaka Bay |
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| The Santa Maria sailing under the Tempozan Bridge |
The nice weather made it a good time to take a ride on the magnificent Tempozan Ferris Wheel.
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| Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
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| View of Osaka Bay from the Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
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| View of Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan |
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| View from the Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
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| View from the Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
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| View from the Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
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| View from the Tempozan Ferris Wheel |
As it was already late in the afternoon, and eager to explore more of the city, we headed for one more destination for the day ---
Nakanoshima 中之島, where many government and commercial buildings are located. We took the subway from Osakako Station and got off at Yodoyabashi Station 淀屋橋駅 , from where Nakanoshima is a short walk across the bridge.
肥後橋駅
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| Osaka City Hall, Nakanoshima 中之島 |
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| Nakanoshima Park |
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| Sculpture at Nakanoshima Park |
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| Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library |
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| Osaka Prefectural Nakanoshima Library |
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| Staircase in the Library |
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| Staircase and dome in the Library |
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| Osaka City Central Public Hall, Nakanoshima |
The walk from Nakanoshima back to Umeda was longer than we had expected, taking just about half-an-hour. But it let us catch a glimpse of the many lighted signs that run from top to bottom of the outside walls of many commercial buildings in the busy metropolis.
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| Umeda |
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| The distinctive HEP Five ferris wheel is a favourite of tourists |
Overview: 8-day tour of Osaka/Kyoto
Previous: Day 6
Next: Day 8
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