JapanGirl64

 We had a three day weekend over Columbus Day so decided to hit the road and visit a few places a little farther away.  Matsumoto Our first stop was Matsumoto Castle. It is the oldest original castle in Japan (lots of the castles in Japan have been re-built multiple times) The part of Matsumoto Castle we visited is the original built in the 1500s.  Its a very beautiful castle and it was fun to be able to go inside. The view from the top level is awesome. I found it interesting that the stairs are so steep. (also I had not realized we would be taking off our shoes and I wore sandals - I felt really self conscious with bare feet.  I liked our hotel, it was very nice and it had a private onsen on the top floor. The hotel provided "lounge wear" for the onsen. Dad decided not to go, but I had a lovely bath on the roof with only the sky above! Another notable feature of the hotel was that it had one of those parking garages where you load your car into the elevator and it ...