skibum

Our wonderful time in Japan with Beth is quickly coming to an end so of course, we crammed this day full of site seeing. We had a lot left on our list of "must do" in Kyoto so we started the day at the Imperial Palace. The original palace was built in 794 but like so many temples it was destroyed by fire from all of the fighting that took place with the shoguns. The present buildings were constructed in 1855. The murals inside are impressive and so was the garden areas. This was one of my favorite gardens. It was made to be a representation of the landscape of Japan with the tall trees being the mountains, the islands represent the land and the water the ocean,etc... Next we visited Nijo-jo castle which was very ... read more

Today was our last day in Tokyo :( / :) ? Mom was happy that we were no longer going to be staying in the hotel-of-tiny-bathrooms, but we were sad that we were leaving the big city. Although, as soon as we arrived in Kyoto mom said, "This feels closer to home." I think she was relieved to be back in Kyoto. Before we left Tokyo, however, we headed over to Ueno Park--about 5 blocks away from our hotel--and took a stroll through the park to the Tokyo National Musuem. The Tokyo National Museum houses some of Japan's most valuable and precious historical objects and artistic masterpieces. The museum consists of four separate buildings, however, we just went into the main building; and there was plenty to look at. The exhibitions begin on the second floor ... read more

New Years Day. We woke up late after being up late, did some laundry and then headed out about 2pm to find Soba noodles for lunch. It is a tradition to have Soba noodles on New Years Day in Japan. We ended up at a small sidewalk cafe underneath the trains. The noodles were tasty and we had some tempura to go with them. While we were eating we felt an earthquake! We found out later is was a 6.8 quake but it only lasted about 30 seconds or so and the epicenter was out in the ocean so it wasn't much but enough to make us wonder if we would have to take cover. After lunch we headed to Shibuya, an area known for fashion and shopping. Beth wanted to visit Forever 21 and we ... read more

We took the subway to the Tsukigi Fish Market this morning. The street leading to the market was super crowded so it took awhile. When we arrived Greg and Beth were hungry so we decided to find a sushi restaurant. They are everywhere but they were also super crowded so we waited about 30 mins just to get in to this tiny little place! G and B both said this was the best sushi they have ever eaten! Probably the most expensive they have ever eaten too! $35.00 each for 7 pieces with a roll and soup. I had a tuna roll and it was amazing. No hint of fishy. I would eat sushi all the time at home if it tasted this good. After lunch we walked around the fish market. It was getting late ... read more

Today we had breakfast in our room, it's part of the deal here so we ordered Japanese style breakfast which was cold salmon and rice and a very small egg puff of some kind, a little kimchi and some other unrecognizable tofu kind of things. It was enough to get us going along with tea we made in the room. We set off on foot to Nijo Castle and Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, both are closed for the holiday but we plan to come back on the 5th to both. We continued on foot to several temples including Heian Jingu Shrine which was built to celebrate the 1100th year anniversary. Gee, we get excited about the Bi-Centennial. It was built in 1895. This was a Shinto shrine. Usually orange is Shinto. Now we were getting pooped out ... read more