We woke up very early yesterday-- 5:30am-- to catch our direct train from Kyoto to Fukuoka. Aspen's friend Chie, her friend and her boyfriend Aaron met us at the Hakata train station.
They took us to our hotel to drop off our bags, then walked us around town-- Canal City shopping center, a shrine, the castle grounds, a lovely park. We walked around for five hours, then came back to our hotel, ready to drop dead. We rested and napped, then Josh, Tiffany, Erik and I went out to try to find dinner. I was at my wit's end from eating only room temperature onigiri and convenience store fare. We had previously found an Italian restaurant, and managed to cross the language barrier enough for me to order a pizza without cheese. Unfortunately, it came with anchovies. I tried to pick them off, but it still made me feel kindof gross. Such an intense fishy flavor.