Fujiya Hotel and Mt. Fuji

After we left our ryokan in Hakone, Nick wanted to show us a famous 5 star hotel nearby called Fujiya Hotel founded in 1878.  John Lennon and Yoko stayed here in 1978.  He and Sachiyo had stopped by this hotel before and it was worth adding on our sightseeing tour.  It reminded me of Hotel Del Coronado only Japanese-style. 

It was so elegant and plush and the grounds were beautiful and very tranquil.

We enjoyed just walking around and looking at the gardens and beautiful trees and traditional Japanese architecture.

We timed our visit to the Fujiya Hotel so we could have lunch here in their main dinning room.

The hotel was known for it's curry dishes so that's what we all ordered.

Bruce ordered the pork curry that came out looking like a pork cutlet breaded in panko and very crisp and delicate.

The curry was brought out in a separate dish that you poured over your meat and rice.

Our beef curry came with the beef right in the curry sauce. 

We also received a tray of garnished to go along with our curry, many that Nick had never seen offered before with curry so it was very unique. 

We placed a small amount on our plates and mixed a condiment into our curry as we ate it and each one gave a very complimentary and delicious accompaniment with our dish.  Our meal also came with a salad and soup, both superb.  

Nick got a cold potato soup with a beautiful presentation, as did all our food.  I ended up purchasing a couple of these beautiful plates in the hotel gift shop as my souvenir.

Desserts for Japanese meals are always simple and refreshing.  Today, it was raspberry sorbet. 

Our curry at the Fujiya Hotel was one of the best of our trip. We felt so pampered and satisfied afterward.

Another side trip we went on while we were up in the mountains to was to the active volcano of Owakudani.  We rode a tram up to a magnificent viewpoint and right over the active volcano. 

They even gave us these wet wipes to place over our face in case the fumes of the hot gases became too unpleasant but we didn't need them.

There was a smell of sulfur but it wasn't too bad.  It sort of reminded us of the smell in Yellowstone near their hot springs. 

The higher up we got, the more we began to see glimpses of Mt. Fuji.

It's a special treat to see Mt. Fuji because it is not out very often.  

The clouds started to move in by the time we reached the top so we were glad to get some shots of the mountain. 

There were a lot of tourists attractions at the top including the black eggs of Owakudani.  They are regular hard boiled eggs but the shells are black from boiling them in sulfur and iron.  The locals believe the black eggs will bring longevity to your lifespan.  I never did eat one but Nick said they also tasted smoked.  

 They even provided photo-ops with the black eggs.

For tourists, they sell lots of black everything...like ice cream.  We had to try it.  Sachiyo said they colored it with charcoal.  It was pretty gross but Nick and Bruce said it tasted just like vanilla ice cream. 

It turned your mouth and tongue black and was quite the mess to eat since it was hot and windy up on the mountain and melted really fast.  Here is what Nick's hand looked like after he ate his.  They had to clean up in the rest room after eating these ice cream cones.

I saw this ad for a hydrangea flavored ice cream cone.  Now, that's one I should have tried.

You will always run into something unique and interesting when visiting Japan.