Day in Takayama

Last night we slept in our temple. It`s very quiet! Not many people staying here. We went to a grocery store and bought some things to cook breakfast in this huge kitchen. So we had a great veggie omelet and toast and jelly with juice! Great start! Our only complaint is the heater in our room smells of kerosene but it shut off part of the night and we kept one of the shoji open so we wouldn`t get asphyxiated!
We were  invited so we attended the 15 minute ceremony in the temple at 9:30 which we thought would be attended by some monks. But it was just the young girl/woman who works in the office who lit candles and invited the bell, a wooden drum and a metal drum while she was chanting. she thanked us for coming.
Off we went by bus for about 10 minutes to this reconstructed village like it was in the 1700-1800s. It was really cool! They get so much snow here they have specially designed shingled roofs with rocks (to protect from the wind). Some of the earlier houses had hugely thatched roofs with big overhangs. We could see snow on the distant peaks they call Japan`s Alps. I think Nagano, where some Olympics were held, is on the other side of those mountains. This area specializes in carpentry, as men were sent to the capital, Edo (now Tokyo) to work on the castle there. They came back and taught the locals the skills they learned. They also do lacquerware. I didn`t realize there were lacquer trees that they drain the sap like maple trees, and then paint the lacquer on wood in layers to make these beautiful dishes. No room to buy anything!!
We had a beautiful sunny day so came back to change camera batteries and buy some sushi for lunch and chicken and veggies to cook our dinner. Food in restaurants is very expensive so we`re trying to be frugal. We cooked a great dinner of cabbage, peas, rice and chicken in a wok and had Kirin beer with it and a shared pear for dessert! That was $10 about for the two of us, buying it in the grocery store and cooking it! Last night`s dinner, which wasn`t as good, was over $20 for us.
We walked around town and found a lovely very modern museum (that was free! not much is here) that had artifacts from the local history and some art. Then we walked on this Walkway passing a dozen shrines along the outskirts of town. Our legs and feet were really hurting by this time. We had earlier passed a local town foot bath with maybe a dozen people soaking in a hot spring! But it was too far to walk back so we just came home.
On to Kyoto tomorrow, the former capital, supposed the most beautiful town in Japan, and I`m sure, TONS of walking!! I`m wishing for another onsen experience!