Up to Obama - A beautiful lunch

We didn't have a plan this weekend when we set out but luckily it turned into a wonderful two days of fun.  To start, we went to northern Osaka to do some driving and stop at the top of a mountain.  We didn't know that at the top was a little temple village however-

The hundreds of stairs were not a welcoming sight for Yukino and I but we had to get to the top.  Along the way was this super cute "restaurant" that we vowed to stop at on the way back down-

At the top was this monstrosity!

The inside was rather bland and I don't understand why they would build something so .....modern in this haven of old religion.

The view was spectacular though-

At least the modern building had its own hand washing thing.  Thank god for Yukino-

Around the corner was the original parts of the complex-

I was standing in Osaka AND Hyogo at the same time!  I knew, even while taking this picture, no one would care about that....

Surely enough we stopped at the little place on the way back down and sat outside to have some lunch-

Cold soba for Yukino....

...while I had cold udon-

One of the best lunches I have had in a long time.


Lots more of what was turning into a long trip soon!