A miracle occurred

Kyoto, Japan We woke up in Osaka today, had a farewell breakfast with cousin Pam, and stepped outside to find that something highly unusual was going on with the weather. First of all, it wasn’t raining. Secondly, it wasn’t humid. And — most surprisingly — it was comfortably cool and sunny.

The beautiful weather held as we took a short train ride to Kyoto. In fact, here it is even cooler and more breezy.

We officially rate this the first nice day we have had since we arrived in Japan last month. Hooray!!!

We took a leisurely walk to the nearby textile museum, the Nishijin Asagi Museum. It celebrates the oldest traditional industry, the weaving of silk used in the most dazzling kimonos and obi, and focuses on the area of Kyoto where the best silk textiles are produced.

Many of the samples we saw were produced on jacquard looms, brought from France in the late 1800’s. That technology, combined with Japanese craftsmanship, allowed the Nishijin area to surpass Lyon and Milan — or so they say here.

But the work is undeniably gorgeous. We were greeted by a 400-year-old masterpiece, which looks brand-new.

The commerce of the Silk Road allowed Japanese weavers to serve customers in many countries, tailoring each piece to the customers’ culture.

Unfortunately, when the weavers started looking for new ways to express their expertise by replicating European painters, things began to get a little kitschy, particularly with the glow-in-the-dark look.

However, since painters like Van Gogh, Monet and Klimt were influenced by Japanese art, having their works later woven in Japanese textiles is quite a twist of homage. The head spins.

The quality of the silks these weavers employ, and the high-level artisans who weave in this style make this a special place in the world history of fine textiles. A good place to visit.

Don’s Food Corner

Today we went with something familiar to us. No, not McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks, Burger King or Domino’s. Instead, we went Indian.

We were too late to get the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, although there were throngs of Indian people who were finishing up and leaving very happy. We were told by an exiting Indian customer that this restaurant served the real deal.

So, we ordered heavily. It all arrived at one time without any concern about what might have been better as an appetizer. But that worked out OK. We first tried the pakora, fried onion fritters. Unlike the versions we’d had that used shredded onions (or veggies), this one featured “leaves” of onions that were breaded and fried. The batter was the traditional recipe.

Then, we ordered some chicken korma (chicken with a tomato/cream based sauce), and lamb keema curry (ground lamb in a curry sauce). Although the sauces were a little more liquid than I like, they were showed evidence of whole spices (pepper corns and coriander pods) which indicated to me that these richly-flavored sauces were homemade and not poured out of a jar.

We rounded out the meal with some basmati rice, raita (yogurt sauce) and buttered naan.

The place is across the street from the hotel where we are staying and it will be difficult not to be tempted to return.