Where We Live

We live close to the Kitano district of Kobe, just 10 minutes walk from the city's central station, Sannomiya.

Kitano is well known for its 'gaijin' community, which means we can buy Weetabix and Marmite with relative ease. Here is a picture of our apartment (right).

One of the the things that strikes you about Kobe is the dizzying array of street furniture. Or, to be more precise, air furniture, as every road is festooned with cables and what appear to be heavy duty transformers hanging from lamposts (see pic below). Obviously, given that we are in earthquake territory, there is good reason for not putting much underground, but it doesn't look pretty. In fact, as furniture goes, it's worse than 1970s Parker Knoll...

But then, just another 500m down the road, we have this beautiful garden. No nasty overhead cables here!

Jessica and Jack enjoy going to the Sorakuen Garden...

The only downside to this is Jessica now wants a dog...