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上田市に３００年の歴史のあるおそば屋さんがあります:「刀屋」。私も、初めて長野に来た時に、連れて行っていただきました。３００年というと、私の生まれた米国より歴史が長いって事、感心しました。「刀屋」は私の信州そばとのデビューでした。量が多いという事で、地元でかなり有名です。（私を連れてくれた人はこの体のビッグサイズを見て、態と刀屋を選んだかな？）

今回に上田に行ったのは日曜日でしたので、刀屋さんの定休日でした。従って、最近に良く頑張っているとんかつ屋さん「満腹」にしました。近くに兄弟店のラーメン屋さんもあり。２点ともは外観、インテリアーを格好よくして、上田のダウンタウンにプラスになっています。

上田で買い物してから、最後は海野町のカスタードクリームやあんこの「志"まん焼き」の富士アイスさんに三時のおやつを。いつも人が並んでいるけど、つい最近はまたテレビに出たらしくて、凄い人数でした。通りがマイ駐車場になっていたって感じ。１個８０円って、こんな美味しいのはこんなに安くていいの？

という事で、この亀清旅館・戸倉上山田温泉にお越しになるお客様で、上田城に寄ってくる人が多いです。そのついでに、上田市の代表のおそば屋さん、３００年の歴史のある刀屋と、人が並ぶほど美味しい志"まん焼きのおやつがお勧めです。

In Ueda City, there is a soba restaurant with a 300-year history, "Katana-ya". This place has been a restaurant longer than the country of my birth -- the United States -- has been a country! The very first time I came to Nagano, I was treated to a lunch at this venerable noodle shop; that was my introduction to the famous buckwheat noodles of Nagano. Katana-ya remains a local favorite to this day, and is known for the large volume of their soba dishes. Come to think of it, that's probably why my host at the time choose Katana-ya (she probably figured my over-sized body came with an over-sized appetite).

The kids and I wandered into Ueda's downtown core this Sunday, only to find that Katana-ya was closed on Sundays. So instead, we ended up at a tonkatsu restaurant called Manpuku (the name literally means "I'm stuffed!"). Manpuku and its nearby sister restaurant, a ramen shop, are great additions to downtown Ueda with their stylish exterior and interiors full of character.

After shopping in the area, we finished up at Ueda's main shopping arcade, "Unnomachi", to buy "Jiman-yaki" pastries at Fuji Ice. The little shop fills them with custard creme or adzuki bean paste and their tasty creations tend to attract a line of customers. Apparently the shop had just been featured on TV recently, so the normally long line of people was extra long today, so many customers that the street out front was turning into the shop's private parking lot.

Anyways, a lot of our guests here at Kamesei Ryokan stop in Ueda on the way to check out the castle and get a taste of the city's samurai history. So for people stopping off in Ueda, I highly suggest taking a walk around the core shopping area, with a visit to Katana-ya if you're hungry (really hungry) for soba, and/or joining the line at the pastry shop in Unnojuku.