Once the glasses had been dealt with we noted there was no one in that JR office, so we headed back in for another go. That might seem like an excessively cautious approach until you consider the process involved. Bear in mind that this is when you know where you want to go and when you want to do so. Lob up and say you want to go from here to there on Thursday and it's probably a more lengthy process because there'll be a number of options. Madam's pre-trip research was very detailed, and we already knew when we wanted to leave most places we were going, and we had all the connections along the way nutted out already.
So you start by telling the person you're dealing with what you want and when you want to go. They fill out a requisition form, and when you've finished requesting they start processing the requests, which involved some fairly solid touch screen action and the odd point of clarification.
That process eventually delivers printed tickets, which are then checked against the requisition form and then checked with the purchaser to make sure you're getting exactly what you asked for. As stated, it's a slow process, and requests for the tickets you'll need to cover a fourteen day pass could occupy one particular operative for most of a morning.
That's a significant consideration when you've been tying up one of three operators while a queue has formed, which is why you start with the most important and gradually work your way through the rest. In any case, with the most pressing ticket issues dealt with we headed back to the Okura.
There was the odd issue to be dealt with en route, and wandered back upstairs to collect the Blue suitcase just in time for Madam to miss the 1:55 shuttle, something largely made possible by somebody's refusal to accept Hughesy's logic that the hotel's over there, there's a roadway that runs right in front of the hotel and this ramp looks like it'll run down to the roadway. As it turns out I was right on all accounts, but we wandered around the environs of the Kobe Maritime Museum, completing a circuit of the building and ended up gaining access to the hotel by the route I'd suggested was there all along.
In any case there was another bus twenty minutes later. Since I'd probably get in the way en route I remained in the Okura, with the result that three days' worth of travelogue are more or les complete, up to date and ready for publication about two hours before we head off to rendezvous with one of Madam's old school friends and dinner.
With the writing up to date I decided to follow suggestions and repair to the lobby overlooking the Japanese garden behind the building and settle back into reading Neil Young. I'd been happy upstairs, tapping away listening to Toumani Diabate and Bert Jansch, which wasn't an option downstairs, but I thought I'd be spotted when Madam returned, it was her suggestion and I didn't want to be a philistine, did I?
As it turned out, of course, someone sailed through the lobby while I wasn't looking, failed to notice I was there, had a minor panic attack when the realization struck and then didn't exactly rush down to ensure everything was OK and I hadn't been abducted by strange females (or something).