It was our last day in Osaka, so we thought it was time to look at the local sights, rather than just the immediate neighbourhood and the inside of the subway between Shin-Osaka and Shinsaibashi.  We mapped out a rough plan for the day, and set off. 

Yesterday I told Ian that for every temple I made him visit, he could go to a Lego store.  We headed to Umeda, where Ian was keen to visit a massive store called Yodoyobashi Camera. Don’t be fooled by the name – this 7 storey monument to consumerism is like JB Hifi, Officeworks, Teds Camera, Kinkos, Kmart and Decathlon, all supersized and expanded by a factor of about 100.  We have never seen so much choice of products and brands all in one place.  There wasn’t a lot of Lego, but if you wanted anything electronic or photographic, you would find it here.  We rode up and down the in-store escalators umpteen times, and finally made a couple of purchases.  That took care of the morning.

We’ve been snacking out of convenience stores for lunch, but today we wanted something more substantial.  I’d tracked down a couple of dedicated gluten free cafes, so we headed off to the nearest one to give it a try.  Rejoicing in the name of “Gluten Free Café and Shishi Bar”, we tracked down this tiny eatery and ordered lunch.  Ian had a burger with mushroom and teriyaki sauce, while I had a beef and mushroom stew.  Both meals came with fluffy rice, yummy salad, and a small bowl of thin soup.  Both were delicious, and exactly right for lunch.

From there we walked to the Umeda Sky Building, which has an Observatory overlooking the city on the 40^th floor.  It’s hard to describe the structure but here goes.  First you ride up in a glass elevator.  Then you take one of two transparent “air escalators”.  You step out into the circular structure which connects the two towers, and admire the 360 degree view of Osaka if you look outwards, and a view of the escalators if you look inwards.  There are numerous mirrored windows which create odd reflections.  We could see the rail bridges that we’ve crossed each day on the Shinkansen.  The city from above looks pretty much the same as any other city, and the view is probably better from the Abeno building further south, but this building’s unique architecture is worth seeing.  Back on ground level, you can look straight up and try and make sense of the odd perspective.  I’m not sure it achieves its aim of being a “mid air garden” (Capita Springs in Singapore does that much better).

The one train we hadn’t used yet was the Osaka Loop JR train, so we boarded that for the short trip to Osaka Castle.  Back in the day, they really knew how to build defensively; there is an inner and outer wall and moat to penetrate, before you get anywhere near the main tower.  The original building dates back as far as 1583, but the current version was constructed in 1931.  Somehow it survived the bombings of WW2.  The interior, unlike Himeji, is completely modernised and houses a museum, so we simply admired the view from outside, particularly the elaborate gold and black adornments which differentiate it from “the white heron”.

Our next, and final visit, was to Comeconoco Café, another completely GF establishment a short walk from the Castle.  Although it was after 5pm, we were served lunch (which we treated as early dinner) – a tasting plate of soup, pasta, salad, sandwiches, and scones.  All of it was delicious.  The place was popular with locals dropping by to pick up a GF sweet treat or two on their way home. Everything was baked fresh on the premises.  Ten out of ten from us, for both eateries.

We’d hoped to go to Tennoji but it was too late in the day, so we made the short subway trip home, our thoughts reluctantly turning to tomorrow morning’s pack up and travel to Tokyo.  We are starting to feel at home and comfortable here; our only fear is getting mown down by the kamikaze cyclists who zoom about on the roads and footpaths at all hours of the day and night. 

Osaka has definitely been a good base for us.  I think it takes 3 or 4 days to settle into a new place and start to relax and understand how things work; we like to stay 5 or 6 nights, sometimes more, for a proper exploration.  Trouble is, just as you begin to feel like a local, it’s time to move on and start fresh.