(click the images to enlarge)
January - Osaka, Nara, Arashiyama (Kyoto), Kurashiki
3rd - Arrived, hung around Osaka Station awaiting check in time, then checked in and had a rest. Wandered the streets and found a BBQ restaurant for dinner - ate tongue, diaphragm and "calvi" whatever that is!
4th - Visited Osaka Castle followed by dinner in Dotonbori, where we ate Okonomiyaki which had fish flakes on it that appeared to move.
5th - Nara
- Visited the deer park and shrines (Todai-ji - very cool and the world's largest wooden building - and Kohfuku-ji)
- Fed the deer
- Sterls got rammed by a deer who was anti-tourists
- big temples and big gold buddha
- home for dinner in the local area - takoyaki
6th - Kyoto
- Arashiyama bamboo grove (not that interesting, a bit messy)
- Senkoji Temple and gardens (beautiful)
- Arashiyama streets - lovely area and quite interesting
- Togesukyo Bridge (not that impressive)
- Back to kyoto for some fabric shopping (no purchases)
- Back to Osaka
- Dinner at home, supermarket food
7th - Osaka Rest Day
- boys went ice skating
- I went shopping, found a great little handmade jewellery store of items all made by locals. got accosted within 5 minutes of separating from the boys by some dude who wanted to hold my hand, bought a hat and a scarf and some earrings. We met for dinner at a local chinese restaurant back in Tengachaya.
8th - Kurashiki
- Visited the "Bikan Historical Quarter" which is an area of town preserved from the Edo era (1603-1868). It is interspersed with canals filled with large koi, and the buildings are all warehouses from when the town was a port that primarily exported rice. There are several interesting museums there but mainly we enjoyed wandering the area itself, trying different foods and just enjoying the atmosphere.
We also stumbled across an "owl cafe" which was a very cool and unexpected surprise.
9th - Rest day, boys played games and I went shopping. In the evening we ate at a local restaurant which had no English menu. The lovely staff used google translate to communicate with us. We asked them to select four dishes for us and they gave us beautifully cooked beef, sashimi, tempura and green-tea noodles. The food was absolutely outstanding and the service so friendly and lovely, we all took photos of each other when we left.
10th - To Toyko via Shinkansen
January - Osaka, Nara, Arashiyama (Kyoto), Kurashiki
3rd - Arrived, hung around Osaka Station awaiting check in time, then checked in and had a rest. Wandered the streets and found a BBQ restaurant for dinner - ate tongue, diaphragm and "calvi" whatever that is!
4th - Visited Osaka Castle followed by dinner in Dotonbori, where we ate Okonomiyaki which had fish flakes on it that appeared to move.
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| Osaka Castle moat |
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| At Osaka Castle - sunny but cold! |
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| Spot the munchkin... (Osaka Castle again) |
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| All one, very large, stone! This was cut, dragged and set in place in 1583 when the castle was built. |
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| At Dotonbori, the night district |
5th - Nara
- Visited the deer park and shrines (Todai-ji - very cool and the world's largest wooden building - and Kohfuku-ji)
- Fed the deer
- Sterls got rammed by a deer who was anti-tourists
- big temples and big gold buddha
- home for dinner in the local area - takoyaki
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| Todai-ji Shrine - the world's largest wooden building |
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| Entrance gate of the shrine, and deer looking for biscuits |
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| Todai-ji Shrine |
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| Not Happy! |
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| Prayers at the shrine |
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| Inside Todai-ji |
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| Dear deer |
6th - Kyoto
- Arashiyama bamboo grove (not that interesting, a bit messy)
- Senkoji Temple and gardens (beautiful)
- Arashiyama streets - lovely area and quite interesting
- Togesukyo Bridge (not that impressive)
- Back to kyoto for some fabric shopping (no purchases)
- Back to Osaka
- Dinner at home, supermarket food
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| Gardens of Senkoji Template |
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| Photo on a bridge, not that you can tell |
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| Senkoji temple area |
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| Koi! |
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| Looking down on the temple |
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| Sorry for all the garden shots but it was so pretty! |
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| This little alley leads to a four hundred year old shop, which sells handcrafted pins |
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| The four hundred year old shop in Kyoto |
7th - Osaka Rest Day
- boys went ice skating
- I went shopping, found a great little handmade jewellery store of items all made by locals. got accosted within 5 minutes of separating from the boys by some dude who wanted to hold my hand, bought a hat and a scarf and some earrings. We met for dinner at a local chinese restaurant back in Tengachaya.
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| Little local chinese restaurant around the corner from our airbnb |
8th - Kurashiki
- Visited the "Bikan Historical Quarter" which is an area of town preserved from the Edo era (1603-1868). It is interspersed with canals filled with large koi, and the buildings are all warehouses from when the town was a port that primarily exported rice. There are several interesting museums there but mainly we enjoyed wandering the area itself, trying different foods and just enjoying the atmosphere.
We also stumbled across an "owl cafe" which was a very cool and unexpected surprise.
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| Go away and let me sleep! |
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| A typical scene from Kurashiki |
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| Kurashiki - in amongst the historical quarter |
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| Just a pretty garden |
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| A beautiful "garden room"; the room looks out on the garden. Preserved edo-style home of a wealthy family that has put a lot of money and effort into preserving Kurashiki |
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| Kurashiki street |
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| Bridge in Kurashiki |
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| Kurashiki canal |
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| Great mates! |
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| Owls keeping their eyes on Travis... |
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| In the owl cafe |
9th - Rest day, boys played games and I went shopping. In the evening we ate at a local restaurant which had no English menu. The lovely staff used google translate to communicate with us. We asked them to select four dishes for us and they gave us beautifully cooked beef, sashimi, tempura and green-tea noodles. The food was absolutely outstanding and the service so friendly and lovely, we all took photos of each other when we left.
10th - To Toyko via Shinkansen
1 comment:
Sterling looks like he is having the time of his life!!!!! Bless.
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