June 7 - The Village of Happiness in Kobe

On Saturday, June 6th, my husband and I stayed in an annex building named "Aozora Outdoor Activitiy Center."   Aozora can be transtaleted as "Blue Sky," in the Village of Happiness Kobe. 

You may think that the building has no roof, but don't worry, it has one.

 

We stayed one night, and we paid a total of 11,000 yen including accomodation, supper and breakfast.  They had a large bath in the annex building, but we preferred to use "The Jungle Onsen hot spring" in the village, so we paid additional 1,260 yen. 

 

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This public facility was initially built for people with disabilities and the elderly.

Elderly people can stay there with small expenses. 
We don't suffer from any disabilities but we still don't have to pay much for the accommodation compared with other hotels.

According to the price list on the website, a twin-bed room with no meals will cost as follows:
A Kobe citizen either over 65 or disabled: 2,800 yen
A non-Kobe citizen either over 65 or disabled: 3,100 yen
A Kobe citizen under 65:  5,700 yen
A non-Kobe citizen under 65: 6,200 yen

These prices apply as busy term such as Saturday nights, National holiday's eves, and dates between Jul. 20 to Aug. 30, and Dec. 31 to Jan. 2.

The village of Happiness had wonderful views and we were able to save money.  Compared to regular hotels, these prices at the Village of Happiness Kobe are a steal.  For example, if you reserve a twin room at Maiko Villa Kobe Seaside Hotel, a privately owned hotel for a night stay on a Saturday in June, they will charge you 13,500 yen per person.   This plan does not include any meal, but the village has several buildings including a rehabilitation hospital, a hot spring, and hotels. 
For two, it will be 27,000 yen.    

 

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and took pictures while walking in the village.

 

They planted small flowers of different colors, and they reflect in the mirror.

This is the bus stop of "the Center of the Village of Happiness"

You can find the guide boards everywhere because

visitors easily get lost in the 205ha facility. 

 

Please be careful.  Wildboars, bees, and snakes are seen in this village.

Hydrangeas

Sun dial

 

I was finally able to take pictures of swallows, especially one with a parent and its chicks. 

I had wanted to take photos of swallows since I visited Mikazuki town last month.

This parent swallow has 3 chicks.

 

 One trip equals a small piece of food for only one chick.

????  Please edit my sentences below.
Only one trip of food is not enough for one chick.  One may need 3 trips of portion or so. 

For this parent bird, it may need as many as 9 or 12 trips before chicks becomes full, I guess. 

You can imagine how tiring it would be to feed them all.

Camomile

A Japanese Plum Tree

This is a swallow's nest located in the front of the Aozora building.  I heard a rather tragic story about it from someone.  He told me that the female bird bore some eggs last month or so, but a crow found the nest immediately and ate the eggs on the same day.  In this regard, there were no more eggs inside of this nest.  On the opposite side of the wall, there was also a second nest, and the female bird bore eggs there as well. 

This picture is not clear, but this is the second nest, on the opposite side of the wall.  He told me that there were some chicks inside.  I hope they will all grow up well.  (Without being prey to crows or snakes).