Out West!

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Yes, I’m still alive. I’ve been pretty busy (hence the publication of numerous blogs at once). So let me catch you guys up on what I’ve been doing..

I took an afternoon train out to Himeji, about an hour west of Kobe, on my day off back in November to check out one of Japan's most beautiful castles. Himeji Castle is one of only 12 surviving feudal castles in Japan and has served as a backdrop in several films (including “The Last Samurai”).

I'm not sure what it is, but somehow I manage to be "adopted" quite frequently when I travel. My guess is that I either give off some sort clueless vibe or it’s just the fact that I tend to travel by myself, and people worry about a young girl traveling alone in a foreign country. Let’s hope it’s the latter. ;)

On this occasion, I was adopted by an older Japanese man (and amateur photographer) who noticed my spiffy camera and decided to usher me around inside the castle to all his little photo vantage points. He was very nice and chatty, but I’m sad to say that I couldn’t understand a word- all I could do was smile and take pictures at each spot he took me to. After a while he took his leave and I was free again to wander.

After spending a couple hours exploring the castle and grounds, I decided to head over to the gardens, which had extended visiting hours that week because of the autumn leaves. I managed to only come across one other person while I was there though- a rare event in Japan! Unfortunately I did not have a tripod, so many of my shots didn’t come out. I still had a fabulous time though.


I visited the castle again a couple weeks ago while Aaron was here, and hope to make it back to the gardens in the spring.

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