osaka for the past 2 days... Asia » Japan » Osaka By rnakamot March 25th 2007 Robyn sorry i didn't write yeesterday but i haven't had internet at this hotel in osaka. just bought 1 hour here in the hotel for $6. yikes! like expensive parisian internet cafes! so yesterday morning/noon time we arrived in osaka, spent yesterday and all of today there, and i'm le [View Full Entry]

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the day started off with breakfast in the room, an array of different things picked up from little convenience stores in the kyoto station. then we went to the kiyomizu shrine in kyoto, a nominee for one of the new 7 wonders of the world! (i wonder, does that mean there'll be 14??) apparently you can vote at: www.new7wonders.com. i have yet to check the site out. the shrine area is located at the top of a hill... we walked, it wasn't too bad. and paid $3 to get in... although i found out that theoretically you can get in [View Full Entry]

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too tired to write much today. check out all the photos instead. Asia » Japan » Kyoto By rnakamot March 22nd 2007 Robynbreakfast: mcdonalds. arashiyama town: hozu river boat ride bamboo forest 3 ice cream cones:green tea & sakura (tasted like cherry) flavors dinner: italian in kyoto department store [View Full Entry]

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today started off waking up in gero was was extremely cold inside the inn as well as outside. probably the coldest it's been during our trip in japan. we went to a different room where our breakfast was set up already on the table in the middle. another traditional japanese meal minus the sea creatures that still had their eyes. it was so cold outside, that when we bought ice cream at the train station on our way to kyoto, and spilled some on the sidewalk, it sat there for a few minutes before it even started melting. when we [View Full Entry]

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to start off, i'm actually writing this on the 21st since there was no internet access in gero, the small hot spring bath resort town in the mountains near nagoya. we took a bullet train from tokyo to gero, which was definitely a slower paced area that was like being in the countryside. the "hotel" izumi-so was actually like a traditional japanese home in which we stayed in one big studio-like room with mats on the floor, and nothing but a tv, a mini-fridge, and a table with 4 chairs by it. at night, the table in the middle was [View Full Entry]

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we started the day taking the subway to the ghibli museum in mitaka which was a small town about 30 minutes away. what i noticed first was how quiet people are here... when you walk through the subway station you're amongst thousands of other people but all you can hear are footsteps. no one was talking. and when we arrived in mitaka, when you closed your eyes you felt like you were in a ghost town since you hardly even heard footsteps, and since it was not nearly as busy as the main part of tokyo. the ghibli museum is one [View Full Entry]

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the day started off at 7:30 am (why so early i dont know) with the same buffet breakfast at the keio plaza hotel. its ok, but getting a little old. then, a trip on the train to the the yoyogi park and the shrine that was there. there was actually one couple getting their wedding pictures taken there, and also a procession of another wedding party i think. it was very different than an american wedding. first off, people were in traditional japanese garb. and it was really somber and kind of depresssing. after that, we wandered out of the park [View Full Entry]

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i just got back from the hotel breakfast buffet that came free. it wasn't bad, they had an american section and a japanese section to choose from. i just tried to download my pictures and unfortunately for some reason they got deleted!!!! good thing there wasn't anything too great that i took between last night and now. we're going to ueno park now which has a park, shopping arcade, then we're going to akihabara the electronic district, then ginza for more shopping, then the imperial palace for some historical/cultural stuff. :o) i'll post some of shelby's pictures (good thing she has [View Full Entry]

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after a 10 hour flight (which fortunately i was able to sleep through since i had a whole row to myself), and a bus ride from the aiport to the hotel, I'm' finally here! No need to go to internet cafes like in europe since this hotel has internet access. It's pretty cold, a little colder than in paris, i think. Since I didn't really get to the hotel until 8 pm or something, I didn't get to really explore the area too much but we're going to have an early day tomorrow. Shelby is helpful since she pretty much understands [View Full Entry]

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this is our last full day in europe and were going to versailles today! im not posting any pictures because i forgot my cord but matt is at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/mcgoose. we went to the eiffel tower yesterday and during the day stopped by this cool bookstore shakespeare and co. i bought this great used book "the historian" which i think was on my reading list. i started it and it was really good. we stopped into a cute little restaurant Chez Paul that had zero tourists in it and the food was good too. i dont remember if i already wrote this [View Full Entry]

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