Took about 2 and a quarter hours to get to Kyoto, and man, this place is HOT. It's not like a tropical heat, or a city in the midst of a humidity attack. It's just like a furnace. I didn't expect Kyoto to be as large a city as it is. It's not quite the small, quaint tourist town I had pictured, but it has its moments. Including this taste of the USA, which is posted here for my friend, Tex:
See, there's no avoiding the American influence, no matter where we go. But, on the same walk we took tonight, we also found a bamboo forest that was interesting:
But, our destination was a district called Gian Corner, which turned out to be quite picturesque:
And for the second night in a row, we were able to chow down at a restaurant that seemed to be full of locals. We had more sushi, tempura, yakitori (sp?) and grilled veggies, including eggplant and corn on the cob. Yummy.
Had an interesting conversation with a Chinese woman and a Japanese man sitting next to us. She had relatives in Cahl-eee-FOR-nia...a place called "Los". Turned out to be LA, but, hey, she gave it a try. Luckily, it seems that Americans are embraced in the places we've been - people make an effort to speak English and are as courteous as humanly possible - almost to a fault.
Enjoyed my first sake tonight, too. It is served warm, and has a decidedly licorice flavor. Way too easy going down, even in this heat.
When we arrived back at the hotel tonight, it appears to have been taken over by Hollywood as the perfect place for a wedding. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a happy day for some lovely couple:
In the morning we're going on a half-day tour around Kyoto, do some relaxing in the evening, and heading to Shanghai on Sunday. So far, so good.
I apologize (again) for the lack of insight in these posts. I just want to get the facts down so I can sort through them later and hopefully make some sense out of them. This really is a trip of a lifetime. I just wish more of my loved ones were with me right now.
Love to all of you!
7 comments:
Becks - great pics and a great travelogue. I'm not sure I'd ever want to visit Asia - so this is a great sub! Have fun
I was just about to ask if you had any sake and there it was, I knew you'd get to it eventually! Are you getting tired yet and does it feel like you've been away from home for a long time. MISS talking to you but thank goodness for the internet, you're never far away.
No blowfish? Chicken...
;)
very COOL!!! cowboy boots!!!!! influence of the country of Texas :)
Don't encourage her, Becks. ;)
I'm with Beth, I don't think I'll ever get to Asia, but I'm really enjoying reading your posts and seeing the pictures you're taking. Travel safe.
I never thought I would want to visit Asia and would never have paid for such a trip. So it's really fun to be doing this on someone else's yen, for the most part.
It feels like we've been here for 100 or 150 years. But it hasn't been difficult at all, there's so much English spoken and so many signs with "subtitles" as I've been calling it.
I'm particularly glad to be able to stay in touch this way - it hardly feels like we're away in a certain fashion.
Tex, I KNEW you'd like that picture - took it just for you!!!
I doubt whether I'll ever get to Japan again, but I think my hubby would really like it here, so ya never know? Like we have the "dotage" pile of books, this might be a trip for later on...I'd much rather be doing this with a loved one than a work colleague.
Glad you guys are enjoying this - I know I'm enjoying putting it together.
becks, ignore the man behind the car(Ted). Encourage me away :)
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