#110 Osaka, Japan

I went to Osaka after spending 2 action packed days in Kyoto. My feet were blistering, my legs had turned to jelly and I was exhausted. But I persevered!!

However, if you have time to spare I would recommend scheduling some down time as I felt very rushed (working in Japan = very little vacation time) and I felt I couldn't properly appreciate all of Osaka because I had overdone it in Kyoto.

OK! So would I recommend it? Yes! It's only a short trip from Kyoto (30mins on the local train) so there is no reason why you can't fit it into your visit to Japan.

While Osaka castle is mentioned as one of the main sights, I didn't think it was the most exciting thing ever, and it was also a little awkward to get to. I also thought Shinsekai wasn't as interesting as the internet had led me to believe.

My favourite area was around Namba and Dontonbori - with all the restaurants and flashing neon lights. We also happened upon a flea market at Shitennoji temple, by far the best of what I've seen in Japan - but it only happens on the 21st and 22nd of each month.

#40 Uppsala Ice Festival

During the week I ventured away from Stockholm (just a little) and visited Uppsala. It's a nice town just North of Stockholm, and easily accessible for a day trip.

The town is most famous for it's old university and cathedral, but I visited an Ice Festival which was on for this week only.

Ice Festival: It was free entrance, and although it was obviously really cool (pun not intended!) it wasn't fantastic. There were about ten or so sculptures, and many of them were artistic designs. I personally would have preferred more animals or familiar shapes. Apparently they were also better at night because they were lit up, but I left before it got dark.

Bear

Fish

Sabre tooth tiger

Design

The University building is nice, and inside it has a cafe and some statues. The Cathedral is also very impressive, and the tallest Church in Scandinavia. It has a museum attached to it that costs money to enter. There's also a Castle that gives a good view over Uppsala, and it has nice gardens (although they are covered in snow now). I didn't enter but I think there's an art gallery or something there. I'll admit I wasn't hugely interested in any of these places, but they were nice to visit. 

Uppsala University

Cathedral

Castle

The University, Castle, Cathedral and big shopping street are all close to the train station. There are buses that can take you out further, but these tickets are different from the ones you use in Stockholm.

To get to Uppsala from Stockholm requires only one train and takes less than an hour, but the pricing is different as it is a separate county to Stockholm. I spent a long time working it out as different people told me different things, but the following was what happened for me: If you have your SL Stockholm travel card (this should also cover the 1, 3 and 7 day cards) then you can get a commuter train for 60kr on the way, and 90kr on the way home (it's ridiculous it costs more to get home, I know!!). This is probably the easiest option and is what I did. You also have the option to get the SJ train which is a little faster but prices vary depending on times (from about 70kr to 150kr), and usually requires booking.

Also, I'm not sure if this is an official thing that Uppsala is famous for, but you can get really big Kanel Bulle (cinnamon buns) at the cafés there. They tasted good too, and cost at most 30kr (which was the average for the desserts).

So that was my trip to Uppsala! It was a nice place to spend a day, but for me it was nothing spectacular. If you only have a short time in Sweden then there are probably better places to visit, but if you have the time it's worth a visit.