Visit Date: December 21, 2014
This past weekend, after the orchestra’s performance, I went on a two-day, one-night trip to Oita with my wife.
To Yuhira Onsen
残念だった湯布院を出発。車で20分程で本日の宿泊地湯平温泉へ到着。旅館の場所は温泉街の一番上のエリアにあるとGoogle Map先生は教えてくれました。
Yudaira Onsen is located on a side road from Route 210, which connects Oita and Yufuin, and is a little way up the mountain. Fortunately, it wasn’t snowing when we arrived at 16:00 on the day, but if it were to snow tomorrow, we’d have a tough time getting there.
After arriving at Yudaira-Onsen, a narrow stone pavement which one car could barely pass as a car from the foot, and a considerable uphill slope continued, and it seemed that it had no choice but to go this way to go to a Ryokan.
I wondered if it was really all right, but I went on anyway. I’m familiar with the narrow cobblestone streets of the old town.
And found the Ryokan safely, but do not know the place of the parking lot. Fortunately, I got out of the car once of a Ryokan and confirmed the place of a parking lot to the person of a Ryokan.
- りょ（旅館の方）：「駐車場へ行くには（下にあった）温泉街まで戻って、大きな道をぐるっと回ってくるとたどり着けます。」
- ゆ（わたくし）：「でも、すぐそこなんでしょ？」
- りょ：「はい、ただここから先の石畳の道は狭いので…、しかもカーブしてるし。」
- ゆ：「（温泉街の入口まで戻るのは）めんどうだからこのまま進んでがんばってみる」
It’s just a Vitz that I’m renting. I was able to go straight through the narrow cobblestones without any problem and reached the parking lot.
Healing inn Takakatsu
Now, here is the important, important accommodation for today.
癒しの宿 鷹勝 鷹勝グループ ＜中洲店・博多店・西新店・別亭＞Healing inn Takakatsu http://www.takasho-k.jp/page0133.html
First, we had coffee and dango soup in the lobby. Then we went to our room.
A wonderfully cozy kotatsu!
It looks promising. The hot spring baths are in the men’s baths once out of the main building. The women’s bath is in the back of the second main building. There is also a bath for private use, and I reserve it at 21:00. We decided to have dinner from 18:30.
The bath
First of all, it is a public bath. Two inner hot water and one open-air bath. An inner hot water is a hinoki bath and a rock bath. The hinoki bath was very good.
The open-air bath is an ordinary feeling, but the structure of the bathtub was good. The shallow part was wide, and it was easy to take a half-body bath there, and even if I took a long bath, I did not get tired.
Incidentally, there seemed to be only about two male guests. Although I got together with other people just after arrival, it was chartered by me alone almost because I was able to leave immediately. It was me alone next morning, too.
dinner
After all, this is probably the most fun.
Dinner was prepared with plenty of local Oita ingredients. All of them tasted wonderful.
Sashimi. There is Seki-saba.
Seafood chawanmushi.
Boiled arakabu.
Tempura. It was the first time to taste tempura of edamame.
Shabu-shabu.
And the end is grilled rice ball chazuke.
And then there was the dessert, which was amazing. Big beans sweetened with coffee (I lost the name!?) and strawberry rice cake.
What can I say, the quantity is full. I was very full.
By the way, I ordered a glass of wine with my meal. It was very delicious. It was a new discovery that red wine goes well with hot pot.
Go to the private bath and go to bed.
After the meal, we went to the room once. There was a futon on the floor, but it was very soft….
After that, we went to a private bath. It was a little too hot, but we enjoyed the hot spring even after dinner.
The atmosphere of the ryokan is very nice and the people at the ryokan are very kind. It is a wonderful place.
There was a hint of snow outside the window. I was worried about tomorrow morning, but now that it was here, I felt like I could handle it.
That day, I went to bed listening to Brahms on NHK. I wonder what will happen tomorrow…
（続きます。）
