Another Great Day in Nikko

I spent the day in Nikko again - this time for the wedding party of Michel and Yoshiko. It was a perfect day for it too. Stacy and Motoki picked me up at 9:30 and we beat the traffic and arrived by 10:30. So we parked near the restaurant and decided to walk the short hiking trail to the view of the falls. I suggest you try Michel's blog for the name of the falls cuz I can't for the life of me remember the name. The translation is something like misty mountain falls I think. Here are a couple of shots:

Here's a picture in the restaurant of the happy couple amid the wine and water glasses. I quite like this one:
The meal was the best I've eaten since I have been in Japan. Everything was perfect. The wine:
The starter (trout, I think):
The (squash) soup:
The salad:
The BEST durned steak I've ever eaten in my life (I'm serious):
Dessert was amazing as well:
All these things were lovingly cooked by about a zillion chefs occupying a very small kitchen. Here are a few of them:
After dinner, I went back to the falls with Yoshiko, Anne, and Michel to snap some photos. Here I am with the happy couple (my body looks weird in this picture and I think it's because my camera case is underneath my jacket and it makes it stick out funny - at least that's the reason I'm sticking with):
When we got back, we found Stacy and Motoki sitting and reading (and magically they appeared in sepia):
We decided, despite the filling meal, to go to a mountain farm that sells homemade soft serve ice cream (and stands with roasted salamanders as well, by the way). Along the way, we stopped at a couple of places to take in the view:



We got our ice cream - which was also amazing - like everything else today - and stood around talking and enjoying the day. Here's Yoshiko's grandmother enjoying her ice cream cone.

Well, Michel and Yoshiko, congratulations. I wish you both the best of luck in your future together. And thanks to Michel's mom, Anne, and Yoshiko's family for the great meal and gifts!