Category Archives: Uncategorized

Kyoto, Japan We began our day in a most peaceful way, touring the garden of Saihoji, set around a beautiful temple dedicated to Amida Buddha. Entry is quite restricted and only a limited number of people are allowed to enter, and are permitted to stay only for a limited period of time. This temple isContinue reading “From Serenity to Anxiety”

Kyoto, Japan There are several ways to experience the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine, an important Shinto shrine famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which lead to Mount Inari. Inari is the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers, explaining the many fox statues across the shrine grounds. The shrine hasContinue reading “Avoiding the crowds”

Kyoto, Japan Once the capital and center of power in the land, Kyoto still has remains of glory and refinement. It’s a must-see stop on a Japan tour, and we look forward to seeing some of its most charming and well-preserved corners. We made it here today on a bullet train — just 35 minutesContinue reading “On to Kyoto”

Nagoya, Japan You can only imagine how excited I was this morning to learn that we were starting our day with a tour of a massive train museum. In close consultation with a friend who knows me well, Don and he had selected this option over the Toyota car museum. It was kind of likeContinue reading “Our luck holds”

Toba, Japan.  My pearl era came in the late 1970’s into the 80’s. I must have worn both my short and long necklace frequently, as I recall having them restrung several times. They just seemed right for those days. I know they were relatively expensive as they were special gifts from my parents.  Today, IContinue reading “Pearls of great price”

Nagoya, Japan Most of Nagoya was rebuilt after the war, but Japan’s fourth largest city still retains some flavor of its days as the samurai heartland and the feudal headquarters of a powerful family.

Nagoya, Japan … ‘bullet’ is the word you were searching for. Yes, today we finally traveled on the famous Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed bullet train. We left Yokohama at 12:48 and arrived in Nagoya at 2:10, a distance of 208 miles. It seemed fast, it was comfortable, and it was perfectly on time. That putsContinue reading “Faster than a speeding…”

Yokohama, Japan It was a grey and rainy day, quite intense at times. So the agenda got reorganized around things that were inside, like the art museum. Great place to spend some time in inclement weather, right?

Yokohama, Japan Sorry to disappoint you adventure lovers, but today we did not have to crawl anywhere on our hands and knees, or slide down rocks on our backsides. No, the paths were all paved and flat as we toured sights within our neighborhood.

Kamakura, Japan The plan for today was to go temple-hopping in relatively nearby Kamakura. Supposedly, an hour and a half should enable you to complete a three- kilometer walk, they said. Easy, we said.