Today we took a short train and ferry ride from Okayama to Naoshima, an island in the inland sea where there are three modern art museums and an “art house” project.

Monday is clearly not the ideal day to visit the island since most things are closed, but there is the Benesse Museum/hotel and art nearby including the famous pumpkin.

The rest of the things you can see for free are, well, things you can see for free.

The island was beautiful, and the Benesse Museum was pretty nice as well.

I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside the museum, but I did get a picture of a giant (dead) bee outside.

My mom was quite tired from all the walking. The bus drops you off at the bottom of a hill and the Benesse Museum is a ways up. We took a taxi back to the port and looked for a place to eat, but we settled on the cafe in the port building. It was pretty good, actually.

We got back to Okayama in the afternoon and looked for Japanese sweets. For dinner we once again tortured our poor mother by wandering aimlessly and choosing a place to eat that was near where we started. It was a pasta place and nothing of note. I do have a picture of a small crème brulée, though.

Tomorrow my mom is off for two weeks with my aunt and my sister and I are off for Tokyo. Our vacation is almost over!