Up at the crack of dawn and barely making it out of the house by 9! – We venture up to the Koen Kami cable car and despite the media frenzy of press and dignitaries on the way we decide they are probably not covering our visit and it must be an opening at the art gallery that we never got to!!)
We now realise that Gora didn’t really have smelly drains it was sulphur from the spas.
The Geology museum at Owakudani is worth a visit (but no photos) and explains how the mountains were formed, new craters being found and how the water is extracted from the ground, heated and then pumped off to various clients down the mountain. (I thought it just naturally bubbled up from the ground!)
We take the next ropeway to Togendai for the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise which runs between Moto-Hakone Port, Hakone-machi Port and Togendai Port. (All this transport is included in the Hakone free pass which is not free you have to pay for it but it is well worth it.) From the boat (ours is a pirate ship) on Lake Ashi, you have an excellent view of Hakone’s mountain-ringed scenery and the lake and we do the round trip enjoying the little boats, shrines and birds. There are many hotels or resorts on the lake and little towns but we have other plans.
After lunch at the jetty we find a bus to the Venetian Glass museum. Wow what can you say about this place it is so over the top but a fabulous collection of old and contemporary pieces. The building is a tribute to an elaborate Italian villa with a beautiful café with an old crooner and band singing 1950 movie themes and appropriate English Italian song. ‘When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s Amore.’ What’s even more curious is the menu – croissants are king and gelato sundaes with cocktails with maybe one or two pasta dishes.
There is a water feature and a garden of Swarovski crystals. (No expense spared) The landscaping is magnificent and paths wind around the property through arbors and walkways and a balcony that overlooks a small river in the valley with beautiful trees.
In the gallery there is a lunchtime violin recital in progress. Eventually it finishes and maestro is selling his CD to anyone who can be charmed and finally the crowd disperses and we can get to see the extensive collection of Venetian glass. They must have been a very wealthy family to build this collection.
Next we walk up the road to the Lalique glass museum – (no photographs allowed) quite an extraordinary comprehensive collection. The perfume bottles and époque stained glass were my favourites.
We take tea& coffee in a small café with dark wooden tables and beautiful lampshades (this seems to be a feature of many cafés) – A one lady operation with the television on Japanese soapies or quiz shows. You are never certain as to what type of coffee or tea you may get – certainly the Italian barista machine is nowhere near taking over anytime soon. Coffee latte has many different interpretations but normally it is whitened black coffee with some creamer or powder but sometimes it’s even milk. (alas not this time.. but drinkable.)
We (eventually) find the right stop for our bus and even recognise a street where we can get off and not have to walk up the big hill!
