August 6, 2015

Thursday - Hot and humid. 

A good day.

I went to bed early last night (honest….just a tad after 1am) and then got up this morning around 7:00 am.  It was hard to get up, I admit it, but it is so hot and humid that I find it difficult to move.  F had take the morning off work, so he went over to his mother’s house to take care of the dog and while he was gone I took my shower and got dressed.  

When he came back, he suggested going out for breakfast.  I hadn’t thought about doing that at all, but it was a good idea.  We went, and had a nice healthy breakfast and then F drove me to the train station. I caught the train easily and had a good ride to Niigata.

A view from the train...how flat and green it is!

Not the same picture, but definitely still flat and green.

At Niigata I met up with my friend and we had a drink since the restaurant wasn’t open yet.  When it was open, we went over to Arco Iris and had Mexican food.  I don’t know how authentic it was, but it was good! Quite a change from my usual lunches!

After lunch we caught a bus over to the Niigata City Art Museum.  They were having a Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic exhibition and we went to see that.  The pictures were wonderful and I loved them, my only beef was there wasn’t enough of them.  I wanted, I hoped for more.  There were only a couple of Rossetti works, only two Edward Burne-Jones (plus a couple of his studies).  The pictures were terrific and we both loved them, but it was over too soon for me.  We looked at a couple of the other galleries, but they just weren’t as great.  Some weird art was hanging on the wall, but it wasn’t my thing. After an expensive visit to the gift shop, we had a glass of tea in the cafe.  

We left the museum and walked towards the main road.  We had a lot of great discussions but at the main road, there was a bus.  My friend decided to take the bus, I decided not to as I had to go to the post office.  We said a hurried goodbye and then off we went in our separate ways.

I went to the post office, and then I caught a bus to the shopping area near the station.  I bought a few postcards, had a snack and then headed over to the station.  I did a little window shopping and then went to Junkudo, the bookstore behind the station.  I found a couple of books there including the new Marion Keyes and one that I have already started by Orhan Pamuk.  I hadn’t really heard of him before so it is a new experience for me.  

I noticed time was growing shorter, so I paid for my books and then walked back to the other side of the station.  I visited Jupiter, the foreign foods shop and picked up a few things for me and my trip home tonight, then went to the convenience store near the gates.  One of the bonuses from my trip to Niigata was receiving a 1000 yen shopping coupon at the conbini.  I picked up some drinks for the trip home, a souvenir for F and a few more things for me.  

I decided to go through the gate a little early and take my seat.  I did that, and then texted my friend and my husband.  I had a lovely and quiet trip home tonight.  I read about a third of my new novel, but I also kept falling asleep a bit too.

When I arrived back in Tsuruoka I was met by F and he took me for a quick dinner at Cocos.  We also bought a few groceries before coming home.  Yay us.  

We had a quiet night in, but it was good.  I didn’t get home until almost 11 pm anyway, so it needed to be quiet I think.

I’m probably going to spend some time recovering on Friday and getting myself sorted out for the weekend.  Come back and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….