Some art around Naoshima

Posted on by helenhmk

Friday was all about the art in some truly magnificent buildings by Tadao Ando. Many you could not take photos in (good thing) and had ticket restrictions which also limited the number of people.

Many of the buildings we visited were made from concrete and in the brutalist style – but fitted well in the landscape.

Here are a few photos – will post more later today.

Dinner…

Posted on by helenhmk

We went to Gumbo Hot Shioya. Think Japanese curry but hotter… and add different types of meat. We had spicy corn, mashed potatoes and coleslaw. It tasted great and filling. There was 60’s music playing and photos of the owner’s favourite music groups – it certainly was on theme. Enjoyable. With beer it was around $15 each. Certainly gave energy to walk back up the hill to where we are staying…despite the cold wind!

A good spot for dinner in Imabari …

Posted on by helenhmk

After the long cycle with head-on winds over the final bridge it was pleasing to make it to the hotel as it was getting dark. in searching for dinner Kym found a couple of locations one of them was pizza. Given the tough ride (all that climbing and head wind) we jumped at the opportunity.

The place featured a traditional wood fired pizza open inside the restaurant. While the menu was in Japanese we used the translate functions on our phones to decide on:

  • Salad
  • Prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella
  • Four cheeses pizza
  • Picante (spiced meat with tomato base)
  • Bottle of red wine
  • Dessert- yuzu ice cream and chocolate cake

The experience was a delight – it reminded us of Etica our favourite pizza place in Adelaide. Even down to the music on the playlist (what is it with Phil Collins..?!!). h

The pizzas themselves were perfect, and great flavour of the toppings. Four cheeses include a blue cheese (oh!). To top it off we had dessert – the ice cream at the perfect amount of citrus… ah. It was a perfect end to a great meal.

The pizza maker was Daniel who had moved to Imabari from Sydney. He mentioned he had cycled the Shimanami Kaido – twice in one day! (That is at least over 140km in a day) Truely amazing – and a super impressive effort.

When next in Imabari we really recommend this place for dinner – especially if you cycled, as it’s a great reward for getting to the destination… and will certainly replace all the carbohydrates used on the ride.

Morning..!

Posted on by helenhmk

Normally when booking accommodation at hotels we usually do not book breakfast option. But it was included- always important to check the congestion before you go.

Here is what we had.. can you guess which one was mine..?

Bridges of Ehime…

Posted on by kymdt

Yesterday we crossed six bridges.

1) The Tatara Ohashi Bridge which opened in 1999 and is 1480 metres long. It connects Ikuchijima with Omishima.

2) The Omishima Bridge which opened in 1979 and is only 328 metres long. It connects Omishima with Hakatajima.

3) The Hakata-Oshima bridge which opened in 1988 and is 1165 metres long. From its name you can tell that it connects the islands of Hakata and Oshima.

4-6) Finally the Kurushima Kaikyo Ohashi bridges which together are 4.15 kilometres long. They opened in 1999. They connect the islands of Ohshima, Mushijima, Umashima and Shikoku. We rode up a steep hill for 3.5 kilometres and withstood gale force winds to get you this photo. As we rode across the ropes of the bridge we’re being played like a violin by the strong wind!