Waiting for the Bullet

While waiting for the Bullet Train at the Kyoto station, I just had to buy one of the little cokes. Unlike Texas, everything's smaller in Japan, including the people, of course!

And Jon just had to try the Pocari Sweat, which tasted salty.

The Philosopher's Walk

We took a lovely stroll down a canal, with small shops along the way, called the Philosopher's Walk. This was a restaurant we came across along the way. Didn't eat there, not even open, but seemed so serene.

The Golden Pavilion

After Nijo Castle, we went to the Golden Pavilion, or Kinkaku-ji, is covered in gold leaf with a bronze phoenix on top. Built in the 14th century, it survived the 1923 earthquake the World War II, but was destroyed by arson in 1950. And obviously rebuilt, an exact duplicate.

We went down these stairs, but we certainly climbed a lot of them on this trip!

Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle, built in the 16th century, known for its ornate interiors (but no cameras allowed); was just beautiful. Also known for its "nightingale" floors, that make bird-like squeaking noises when you walk on them, warning of intruders. There were 2 moats, several buildings, very interesting.

Serene pond, with huge rocks ~
me and one of the moats ~

A Day in Kyoto

In our Japanese hotel in Kyoto, instead of the Gideon's Bible, there is a copy of The Teaching of Budda.

Beautiful walk in Gion District ~

We did not expect to see this once we got to the top. A kannon (goddess of mercy), the Ryozen Kannon, dedicated to Japanese soldiers who died in World War II.

Kyoto - Heian Shrine

In Kyoto, from the hotel, we walked to the Heian Shrine. We heard people say they grew tired of the shrines, but as you can tell, we liked them. This torii was huge! See the rickshaw - those guys were definitely in shape!

Heian Shrine

Bullet

Friday we took the Bullet Train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto. Here is Jon waiting for our train. The trains make a 2 minute stop. So you have to be ready when they come. They ran on time, very efficient and very fast! It was a good trip, took about 3 hours. And by the way, in the 10 days we were there, I heard about 2 cell phones ring. They keep them on vibrate, and mostly text message when in public. Very very nice.

Here's a bullet train, taken at one of our stops.
Taken from the bullet ~

Ueno Park

Thursday we took the Subway to Ueno Park. There was a lot to see and spent the whole day there. Here is a series of torii leading to the Gojo Shrine, the next picture.

Eternal Flame from Hiroshima. Story is a young man went to his uncle's, found his uncle dead and his home destroyed by the atomic bomb. He kindled the flame, initially out of hatred, but over the years his heart changed and is now a symbol of peace.

Tokyo National Museum, fascinating and of course could have spent several days there ~

A brief stop at the zoo, where we missed the Giant Panda who died in April, but did get to see the Red Panda, so cute ~

Just a few of the many we took that day!

Our Traditional Japanese Room

After the retreat was over, we moved to a traditional Japanese room. This is the tokonoma, an alcove with traditional Japanese items. You are to respect it and not put anything in this alcove. Surprised they gave us a television, it seemed to interfere with the traditional style.

The table on the left was in the center of the room. Then in the evenings, they prepare the futons for you that are kept in the closet during the day. The floors were wood with tatami mats that you were not to walk on with shoes on. They provided yakatas (robes) and slippers. There was also a pretty foyer and small living room, which I somehow did not get pictures of.
Pretty funny picture, but all I have of the sliding doors and cute tea set they put out for us.
View outside our window ~

Japan

We went to Japan! I tagged along on a work trip, then stayed for another week. Here's our first photo - Jon getting yen at the airport.

Our first 1/2 day outing, we went to Meiji Shrine, not a very long subway ride from the hotel. The shrine was in the middle of a beautiful park, right in the middle of busy Tokyo. This was first of many torii that we saw, gateways to entrance of a Shinto shrine.
Most shrines had these, but never saw written in English what they were.
Meiji Shrine - built in 1920, destroyed in WW II, but rebuilt with private donations in 1958. Very heavily used, during the New Year holidays, over 3 million people worship here. A previous emperor and his wife are enshrined here.
I liked the huge doors ~
There were about 20 bonsai trees and plants, they were 20 - 100 years old. Here's just two ~The irises were just blooming at the garden ~