Gifu, Toyama, and Ishikawa

Giant update for you all! About a week ago was another 3 day weekend here (in the fall there seems to be one a month) and we took another road trip to knock off 3 more prefectures on our list. We headed up to the Hokuriku area of Japan to see a bit of Gifu, Toyama, and Ishikawa.
On the border of Gifu and Ishikawa is a World Heritage site that I've always wanted to see because the pictures I've seen of it are stupendous. It's called Shirakawago, and it's a preserved old Japanese village with the old style of straw roof houses. In the winter, it looks like this, which I would love to see in person but don't know if I trust the winter weather to do it. Prepare yourself for the quaintness of a village nestled in the mountains that looks practically untouched by time.

These houses look decievingly small and cute, but they're huge! Plus, they have up a straw roof that is up to a meter thick!

Hubby by the old-fashioned fire pit.

A re-thatching of a roof.

Next we headed to Kanazawa in Ishikawa to see the city and its sights. It has a lovely garden. The weather was nice, and you could see fall sneaking in with its color.

Art museums aren't usually top on our lists of places to visit, but we made an exception to see the contemporary art museum in Kanazawa. While I'm not much of a fan of modern art, Leandro Erlich's The Swimming Pool is a cool piece that I think everyone can enjoy.

There's people in the bottom of the pool?!

View from the bottom of the pool.

I was really impressed with Kanazawa and how great the area around the main train station is. Not only is it nice looking, the shopping is great.

This giant gate welcomes you to Kanazawa station.

Right in front of the station is this fountain, which cycles between "Welcome to Kanazawa" in both English and Japanese along with a clock. The words are completely made of mini jets of water.

A closeup of the clock and fountains.

Even on the 6-7 hour drive there, we encountered some funny and entertaining things at rest areas, like these awesome deco trucks.

Plus, in case you didn't know how to use the toilet at the rest area, there was this handy picture guide to show you:

It was a great trip, and I feel like I've scratched the travel bug enough to stay at home the next couple of weekends and start some new sewing projects. Fall is coming slowly but surely here!