The display said 7°C. That feels positively balmy compared with the -14°C in Helsinki yesterday. We are back in Osaka and though it's winter here too there is no trace of snow. Our last morning in Europe is very cold indeed, especially in the park where we watch Alex slide down the hill of snow and ice on his toboggan. My unprotected cheeks burn in the chill air and when I take off my gloves to film him, my fingers go numb. Kids from a school adjacent to the park play in the morning before class. Some return later, walking in a group down to nearby ice skating rinks, their skating boots clutched in their arms. A different kind of PE to Australia. It's a relief to return to the hotel and we don't re-emerge from our room until the midday check in time. Leaving our bags, we head to the city centre to look for sports shoes at XXL. This, and some other proximate shopping, takes too long. After eating a Mexicanish lunch at Pancho Villas, simply because it'...
The journal of a travel addict.