Good day, and welcome back! This edition is going to be about my recent trip to Kobe prefecture.
Colder weather is starting to make its way, accompanied with the inevitable sickness these temperatures bring. Having just gotten over a sickness that had been plaguing the entirety of campus, a friend from Australia invited me to join him and another in our dorm unit to go along with them to Kobe, a city west of Osaka about an hour by train to do…nothing specific aside from the food, but we would figure it out on the way.
Anyone who knows about Kobe knows that its pride and joy is their Wagyu beef. Interestingly enough, the word borrows the term Wa, a Japanese concept regarding harmony and peace which I am taking a class on.
Anyways, following a long train ride and looking up stuff to do, we settled on a mountaintop garden with a gondola. We made our way towards the mountain, and after waiting in line, began our ascent up the mountain via gondola, catching a beautiful view of not only Kobe, but the swathes of greenery scaling the mountains with us, and in the distance, the Awaji island and vast water off the coast of the city.
The garden walk began at the top and made its way down, the top holding a German-esque village holding food vendors and displays of house-made fragrances utilizing the gardens the mountain held. We decided to save the wagyu for last and upon some exploring, we found a spot for a short hike along the ridge of the mountain leading to a beautiful view and a few big spiders.
Descending down the brick-laden path past various herb gardens was a large glass greenhouse holding all kinds of vegetation and gardens. Beyond that was a large veranda overlooking the aforementioned city and ocean landscape laden with places to relax and enjoy the view. Descending further was a lovely shaded area with an out-of-the-way water fixture garden and hammocks, which we decided to take advantage of to lie down and enjoy the atmosphere.
Finally, at the last section of the gardens was a large park on a hill topped by a windmill-looking sculpture and swathes of flowers, all looking over the view. This park contained a stand selling a purple lavender flavored ice cream which of course we all were delighted to try.
Descending the mountain, we embarked on our main goal to find a restaurant that sold wagyu, and seeing as we were in the capital of the stuff, it was quite simple. The place we arrived at was a small place with grills on each table, and after ordering, we indulged in cooking our own slices of the tender and juicy meat. Although it was delicious, food so good can only come at a high price, as all together we spent around $70 dollars, which was absolutely worth it.
Next time will be about another place I visited, and the preparation for a trip to Tokyo. See you then!
Colin Haberbosch can be contacted at
chaberbosch@kscequinox.com
