Kurashiki

We spent yesterday morning pottering in the 3 Coins and Donki stores at the station.

We spent most of yesterday afternoon making our way by train from Kyoto to Kurashiki, which is a town with a historic quarter just beyond Okayama.

We are in a guest apartment not far from the station, across the road from an Outlet Centre and a shopping mall. The location is excellent, although it is a bit of a distance from the historic quarter.

The guest apartment is very cute, absolutely immaculate, very well kitted out. There is a washing machine and a verandah for hanging the clothes out. There is a gas stove and a microwave. The kitchen is well appointed. It's lovely. 

You would think it would be absolutely perfect. Except it is more a guest room than an apartment. There isn't really enough room for both Lindsey and me, although we could manage for a couple of days.  It is supposed to have a bed and two futons. The killer is that the "bed" is what we would call a futon and is very low to the ground. There is only just enough room to put a futon mattress down next to the bed. We have no idea where you would put the second futon. The chairs are uncomfortable and are more or less hard cushions on the floor with a short back. 

None of this is good for me. My back is not enjoying bending down to do things or getting up and down from floor level. There is nowhere suitable for me to sit, so I either lounge on the "bed" or I stand. If I were ten or even five years younger this would indeed have been perfect. Maybe if I do my pyjama pilates and my yoga exercises more often it will be perfect again. In the meantime, we are going to enjoy the day pottering around the local shops, parks and gardens in the sunshine and then later this afternoon we will cut our losses and relocate to a hotel in the historic quarter.