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Enjoying nature, Enjoying shopping, Harunire Terrace

信州に来る理由はまた一つができました：軽井沢のハルニレテラス。このとってもユニークなショッピングプラザはちょうど1歳になりました。ユニークというのは、
チェイン店ではなく（長野で愛されている永井農場や丸山珈琲の店舗はあるけど）
観光地くさいお土産屋さんではなく、生活品が多い（思い出になるお土産にもきっと出会えるだろうけど）
ウッドデッキも木もある（ウッドデッキの中から出ている木もある）
森とゆっくり流れている川があって、それに合う落ち着いたお洒落な作りなお店が並べている。
とにかく、ユニークな、なんとなく長野らしいショッピング街です。
誤解しないように、100円ショップはございません。それぞれのお店の品物はいい値段がします。でも、よく見れば、それなり手をかけている商品です。アートとクラフト屋さんで、この上山田温泉の陶芸家Agnesさんの作品も並べれた。インテリアーのお店に仲間の小岩井さん達の上田紬スカーフ。きっと、商品の全てはそんな様なストーリがありそう。
亀清の若女将と二人で気に入りました。軽井沢のハルニレ。

Nagano has yet another reason to come and visit: HARUNIRE Terrace in Karuizawa. This very unique shopping plaza is just celebrating its first birthday. By unique, I mean:

None of your typical chain stores (although, there are branches of some well-loved Nagano stores, like Nagai Farm and Maryuama Coffee)
No touristy souvenir shops (although, you will likely find some nice momento to take home as a souvenir from your trip to Nagano)
A wood deck and lots of trees around (and the deck built around some of those trees, too)
A forest and a gently gurgling river flowing next to the plaza, and the shops designed to complement the natural surroundings.
A totally unique and very "Nagano" shopping experience. And just so there's no mixed expectations, you won't find any 100 yen discount shops here. The items come with some pretty hefty prices. But if you look closely, you'll see a lot of work went into the various items. In the arts and crafts shop, we found a corner featuring creations by Agnes, a ceramics artist that lives nearby here in Kamiyamada Onsen. The interior goods shop was selling silk scarves made by my Ueda tsumugi friends, Koiwai Workshop. I got the feeling that each individual item had a story behind it to justify the prices.
Mari and I really enjoyed Harunire Terrace and highly reccommend it!

ハルニレテラスのHPはこちらClick here for the Terrace's website.

Do you dare enter the Volcano Museum?

せっかくの休みの日で家族で出かけようとしたら…雨！
まあ、雨に負けないで、今日は浅間火山博物館に行きました。外が雨でも、博物館の中で火山の色々と見れます。数年前に一度行きました。その時に、博物館の入口の火山の中に入っていくような雰囲気で、息子たちが怖くて怖くて。今回は興味津々でスムーズに入りました。成長したな！今度は美咲ちゃんが「抱っこ！」と言い出した。やはり、まだ三歳だから怖がっていた。
浅間火山博物館は不思議な存在です。火山についての展示はそれなり面白いし、鬼押し出しとかに行けば、火山の事は詳しく知りたくなるので、この博物館に来れば色々説明してくれる。それは良いのですが、不思議なのは、博物館の施設です。まず、本館の上隣に展望台付きの面白そうな、幽霊が出てきそうな、映画に出てきそうな不気味な建物があります。聞いたら、元の博物館だったと；この新しい博物館ができたら、古いのはクローズになっちゃったそうです。そして、現在の本館に入れば、広～い食堂があって、そして広～いお土産売店があって、奥の方に博物館の入口がありました。博物館実態は本館の半分以下です。目的はなんだろうかと思っちゃう。駐車場を見れば、分かる：入口の近くは大型バス専用。時代が変わって団体客より個人客、我々みたいな子供連れの家族とかが増えています。その中でこういう博物館も個人客の感動作りはもうちょっと頑張ってもらいたいな…

It was our family's day off to go for a drive somewhere. Except, nobody told the weatherman. Hmm, what to do on a rainy day with the kids? We decided to still go for a drive, and checked out the Asama Volcano Museum. When we went a few years ago, the boys were so scared by the museum's lava tunnel-like entrance, that they were shaking. This time around, they really got into the special effects. It was their little sister Misaki's turn to ask to be held -- at least she was scared.
The Asama Volcano Museum is an interesting place. The museum itself does a good job of showing the inner workings of volcanoes. So if you go to the nearby Onioshidashi lava fields and your interest in volcanoes is piqued, the museum's explanation is pretty valuable. But the museum's facilities themselves are, well, weird. Above the main building is an old, dilapidated, ghost-like building with a bizarre viewing room on top. It looks like something out of a horror movie. When we asked about it, we were told it's the original museum building, and when the present one was built, the old one was closed down. So it's left to deteriorate instead of being torn down? Anyways, then there's the present museum building. You go in, and first there's a huge cafeteria, then a huge souvenir shop area, before you finally reach the entrance to the museum itself. It makes you wonder what the real purpose is. Actually, that was already given away by the parking lot. The parking spots nearest the entrance were reserved for tour busses. Ah hah! They're still waiting for the busloads of guests to come. Well, nowadays, it's individual families and couples travelling, not large groups. Museums like this have to evolve with the times!

浅間火山博物館のHPはこちら（割引券もあり！）Click here for the Asama Museum website (with discount coupon, too!)