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Got up and decided that I'd take a tram and walk to the Herb Gardens adjacent to and up the hill from my hotel.   They didn't open for another hour so I bought a ticket near the front desk

(a few dollars discounted from the venue location) and walked down into Kobe looking for somewhere to get a bite to eat.    After a while I saw some worker types coming out of a small 

shop that had lots of strange statue like figures in front of it.   There was a posted menu that had enough english on it for me to know I could get french toast and tea.

After breakfast I headed back to the ropeway and Herb Garden.   They were just opening when I arrived.   It felt weird getting onto a tram WITHOUT skis or a snowboard (and it was the same type of

tram that Vail uses).    

I have lots of video and pictures of the gardens and getting there.   Going up the tram (built by same group that does the ski resort tram/gondola's I've used for years) was a little odd as I didn't have ski or snowboard equipment with me!

It was a lot "lighter" going up than I'm used to.

Part way up you could look down and see an amazing waterfall.  Here's a video of it:  

Here are many pictures of the gardens and the glass greenhouse that is part of their layout.   Most of the gardens are just outdoors with paths between them.   But the greenhouse 

is growing more tropical things (like dragonfruit cactus, tropical flowers, etc).

Finished up the walk down to the mid-level tram station and took the tram back down to next to my hotel.   Did a quick cleanup and checked out.

Decided to take the subway system to Osaka from the basement of the hotel.   No issues with the two subway tickets (total of under $10) but once I got to Osaka I

discovered that I really needed to be at a different station (Osaka-Namba vs Osaka).    No real problem -- a different subway line would do that for another $2 or so, but

matters got a little more complicated when the walk to the other subway line hit some sort of "we are closed" sign without an english "please goto the south entrance 'this way'".

Ack.    After trying for a while to figure it out I finally stopped next to a restaurant and asked the front desk person who pointed me to the "other" entrance to the right subway sub level.

With that taken care of I was easily able to navigate and catch the next subway train (they ran every 10 minutes or so) down a few stops to the one I wanted.

Used my iPhone to get to the hotel building, but arrived about an hour before check-in time.    That was okay - they were fine with me leaving my bags with them, which I did.   Then I headed over

to the food street - Dotombori.   I decided that I should get some Osaka Style Okonomoyaki to compare it to the Hiroshima style I'd had for lunch two days ago.    Having tried both I think I 

actually like the Hiroshima style better now!    

After lunch I stopped by an ice cream window that I saw when I was walking to the okonomoyaki restaurant.   I bought a cup of ice cream and ate it on the street.

The funny thing is that the place is called "Honolulu Coffee".   I showed the lady serving the ice cream my Hawaii drivers license and she got a kick out of it -- though I didn't score a "local's discount" :-)

I also made a reservation for dinner tonight at the good crab restaurant that I'd eaten at several years ago.    I recalled that it was often impossible to get a table for dinner, so I'm glad I was able to book it in the

afternoon.   Will be back there at 7:10pm for dinner tonight.

Headed back to my hotel and checked in.   The have me on the very top floor with a great view of the city out my window.  Time for a nap!

Headed back to dinner at the crab restaurant.    Despite my desires to try new foods I REALLY want to have the crab au gratin dish that I had many years ago.

That and my sushi chef friend told me to be sure and get crab on this trip because it is crab season!

Made it to the restaurant exactly on time for my 7:10pm reservation and didn't have to wait at all!   Sent up to the 3rd floor where I was asked to remove my shoes and then I was guided to my table.

I picked out two dishes - the crab au gratin appetizer and a combo boiled crab dish of half "snow crab" and half "kind crab".

Wow!   It was a total crab fest!   I was able to finish it all, but just barely!

    My timing was also really good because it turns out I was on a "smoking floor".   Just as I finished two tables near me "lit up" -- ick!   Fortunately the were not doing that during my meal and I escaped before

having inhale too much of vile smoke.    There is a non-smoking floor, but I had forgotten to ask when I'd made the reservation... food for (clean air) thought if I come back again someday.

After all that great food I was full, BUT I still needed dessert.   I recalled what amounts to a sundae place a few blocks away in the direction of my hotel and it turned out my memory served me correctly!

Stopped by for a cool refreshing sundae.   I am not entirely sure what the ice cream like component is (I will try and ask and fill it in here later) but it is similar to soft serve ice cream with a little more firmness than 

we have back in the US.   Even though the photos look like whipped cream it is actually this 'soft serve ice cream like' stuff.   The other components were a little fruit drizzle and cubs (or sweet beans) of some kind and small crunchy flakes,

somewhat like mini corn-flakes (the cereal) but smaller and with a higher level of crunch.    And some fresh mint leaf on top.  It was the perfect dessert for me!

Headed back to my hotel to upload all of this and go to bed -- took this  night phots out of my window -- nice view!