Halloween Sunday - Kyoto to Hiroshima

We skipped our walk this morning (although the weather was delightful in Kyoto) and slept in until 6. We had to make sure our bags were all set. The large bags are being shipped to the airport and we will be living out of our small bags until Wednesday when we leave. We brought our bags down to the lobby after breakfast and set off by taxi to the train station. Several of the other folks from the tour, who are leaving for home today, came down to wave us off. We took the bullet train. What a wonderful invention. The seats are very comfortable with lots of foot space. Several of us made origami cranes to pass the time on the train. Junko put them together in a chain so that we can hang them at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. We arrived a little after noon and dropped our bags at the lobby of the hotel as our rooms were not ready yet. Junko then treated us to lunch to experience Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki (vegetable and fish pancakes). Several of us requested ours plain having experienced the dousing of mayonnaise on the other one we had. It was very good! We sat at the counter with the grill directly in front of us so we could watch the whole operation. First the pancake was cooked and then a hefty portion of cabbage with strips of bacon on top. The pancake was sprinkled with water and then flipped to cook the bacon. Meanwhile on another part of the grill a healthy portion of noodles was cooking. An egg was cooked with the yolk broken. Small shrimp and squid was also cooked and placed on the pancake. When the egg was done, the noodles were placed on top and then the whole thing was flipped on top of the pancake. Grilled oysters were served on the side. The ladies who were doing the cooking were cute. They kept giggling over John and Dave's beards. They thought Dave looked like Colonel Sanders of KFC fame. They gave us each a Japanese lollipop which was on a long stick and what looked like a gumdrop on top, but it was hardened sugar in the shape of a gumdrop. This was our Halloween treat. After lunch, we took the trolley to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It was was a sobering experience. There were models and photo panels presenting the history of Hiroshima before and after the bombing on August 6, 1945. Some of the photos and artifacts (pieces of clothing) were quite graphic. It was really hard to walk through and I found my eyes avoiding some of the exhibits. One of the most poignant stories was of a young girl, Sadako, who was two when the bomb was dropped. She lived a normal life until she was in sixth grade and they discovered that she had radiation related leukemia - they gave her a year to live. She spent eight months in the Red Cross hospital and decided to make 1000 cranes. It is believed that if you make 1000 cranes, your wish will come true. She made well over 1000 cranes, some of them very tiny - less than the length of your small fingernail (see photo - the box is about 1 inch square), but sadly her wish for a cure did not come true. When she died the children at her school started a fund raising campaign to build a memorial. Many children and adults heard her story and a Children's Monument was erected in the Peace Memorial Park honoring all of the children who were killed. There are millions of cranes that have been made by both children and adults and they are hung all around the monument in glass houses (see photo). We chose Kelly to hang our chain of cranes (see photo) as she is by far the youngest of the group. We then walked over to a mound where the remains of 70,000 unidentified victims are buried. After ringing the peace bell, we walked to the Atomic Dome building - one of the only buildings left standing after the bomb. It has been shored up, but the skeleton remains as a reminder of the horror of that day. We returned to the hotel to check in and after a short while, the five amigos went across the street to the eleventh floor of the department store to have dinner. We chose Italian. It was good, but not as good as the one in Kyoto. After dinner, Dave and John went to explore the food store in the basement while "the girls" rode the escalator down floor by floor to see what there was to see. This is a very fancy department store - I don't think I'll be buying anything here! Tomorrow we will travel by train and ferry to an island nearby.

Gardens

It was drizzly again this morning, but Dave, John and I walked down to the Imperial Palace grounds again. After breakfast, we left to visit Arashiyama, which is a western suburb of Kyoto. Our goal was to walk in the Tenryuji Temple gardens, but we had an added bonus as today was a celebration day for the temple and there were many people attending the ceremony in formal wear. Some of the kimono clad ladies had special raincoats over their kimonos (see photo) - it was very colorful. The gardens were wet, but lovely, but the best in my opinion was the walk through the bamboo forest (see photo). There was a high wind and you could hear the rustling of the leaves as the slender trees swayed in the breeze. It was magical! We came out of the forest and visited another garden. This one was planned by a former movie actor in Japan. He was in both silent and "talky" films and was most famous for his character, "The One-Eyed Samurai". We stopped at the tea house for a small refreshment before walking the garden paths. His villa was high on the mountain overlooking the city and was laid out so that as you turned a corner you had a new vista in front of you and could no longer see where you had just been. There were many rock paths (some of the rocks were lovely shades of red and green) and we were able to stroll around the gardens and at one point came to his villa. The grounds are now open to the public for a small fee. We took the local train and subway back to the hotel. Unbelievably, we saw Aoi, the girl from City Hall that we met yesterday, on the same subway car that we were on! What are the chances of that happening?! She was on her way to an English language class. I jammed my little toe when stepping over the rim of the tall tub to get into the shower this morning and I was definitely feeling it on the walk. Back at the hotel, I took off my shoe and sock and found that my little toe was all purple so am guessing that I broke it. I figure there is nothing to be done about it so will dose up with Advil and go on. It doesn't hurt too badly unless I flex the foot so I will just have to be careful. Dave decided to nap this afternoon, but I went with a small group to visit Okazaki Park where there is a garden at the Heian Shrine. Fortunately the rain had quit and although it was not super sunny, at least it wasn't soggy! We were so lucky as again we saw children coming for the blessings and we also saw a bride and groom. The bride wore a traditional black with embroidered flowers kimono - she was very attractive. Junko would say that the couple were "hot-hot". That is there expression for passion. I think it is very cute. The garden was lovely - one of the best features was a long wooden bridge over the pond (see photo). I had been feeling badly that our trip occurred during the peak season of Fall back home, but I was able to catch a little color in the garden here to remind me of home (see photo of fall in Japan). We then walked over to the Museum of Traditional Craft and saw lots of lovely craft work from lacquer ware to brocade material to bamboo weaving. It was a lovely museum and I really enjoyed it. There were a few craft people who were working and demonstrating in the museum. One of them was painting on the lacquer ware and then sprinkling gold dust on what he had painted. He had a very steady hand. As in most museums, we ended our tour in the gift shop. We saw some lovely hand painted tee shirts and embroidered blouses, but the large size looked quite a bit smaller than our large. I asked a clerk if they had anything larger and she showed us a blouse with "F" on the label. I jokingly told Lana that stood for Full Figure or maybe Fat. The sales clerk, with great seriousness said that it stood for Fine! I just love how gracious the people are here. Across the hall from the museum, they were having an exhibition of high school student work. I was quite impressed - especially with the photography exhibit. It was hard to believe that students had taken such lovely pictures - they looked professional. They were all in black and white which sometimes creates an artistic effect. We are going out to our farewell dinner tonight to say goodbye (boo-foo) to the eight people who are not continuing on to Hiroshima. I will get back to the blog after dinner to let you know how it was. Well, I keep thinking that eventually we will get a normal dinner, but each is more elaborate and beautiful than the next. We ate downtown in a lovely restaurant where there are hot plates built into the table for us to cook on. One drink was included with the dinner and the majority of the party chose sake - I think our group is enjoying it. The appetizer was served in a small rectangular lacquer box with three beautiful small dishes. On one of the dishes was persimmon and mushroom salad with sesame paste dressing, another had tofu and soy sauce and the third had a small piece of white fish, cooked chrysanthemum leaf and turnip. We then got a bowl of rice and a small dish of pickles followed by a tempura basket (without mayo, thank God!) with two shrimp, potato, pepper, mushroom and a piece of fish. The waitress came to the table and set a large heavy metal pan on the burner and filled it with warm beef broth. She then put in a variety of vegetables: onions, mushrooms, tofu dumplings, Chinese cabbage, sticky rice cakes, and a thin piece of rolled soy milk product (I didn't catch the name of it). These boiled merrily away and we pulled them out with our chopsticks when they were done. I was full about two courses ago, but the beef was next to come. It was very thin slices of beef that you swish through the boiling broth to cook (this happens very quickly). It is called shabu-shabu and that is the sound it (supposedly) makes as you swish it back and forth. Accompanying this was a small dish of things you could add to either the soy/citrus or the sesame sauce. They were lime, dikon radish with chili powder and ginger. The shabu-shabu was very good, but I couldn't finish what I was given. Finally, came the tea and a small three-legged triangular dish of vanilla ice cream topped with a tiny heart shaped mint leaf. Wow! Junko gave us each a gift as this was the last time the whole group would be together. There was a package of origami paper, a lovely card, a small kimono doll and a cloth that can be framed. That was really a very nice gesture on her part. She said that when we got home, to look up when there was a full moon. If we can see the rabbit on the moon, we will think of our trip to Japan. Apparently, they have a rabbit on the moon over here, while we see the man in the moon - we will have to look for the rabbit when we get home. Speaking of rabbits, they are all over in the gift stores in all shapes and sizes and on everything imaginable as next year is the year of the rabbit. We got back to the hotel and did our last minute goodbyes and hugs. We will be leaving at 9:30 tomorrow morning to take the bullet train to Hiroshima.

From Farm to Table 10/29/10

Another busy day! Dave was feeling much better this morning, but opted out of the 6 AM walk as he didn't want to press his luck. John and I walked down to the palace gardens and grounds. It was a lovely place to walk. We saw people out jogging, walking and exercising their dogs (which for the most part are small breeds). After breakfast, we went to visit the Kiyomizu Temple which is on the east side of Kyoto in the "Blue Dragon" mountains. There were several buildings going up the side of the mountain and some lovely viewpoints from which to see the city below. There were again many children on school field trips. On the way back to the bus down the narrow town street, Dave was stopped by a television crew who interviewed him about his travels in Japan and if everything here was to his liking. We all kidded him about his new show, "Dave at Nine". Our next stop was to the west side of Kyoto near the "White Tiger" mountains. Before stopping at the farm which was our destination, we stopped at the huge and beautiful community center in the town of Kameoka. They were having a show of chrysanthemums and bonsai trees. Everything was just delightful - lovely colors and fantastic designs of the bonsai. We then continued on to Yuasa san's farm, which was 12 acres. This is an organic farm that mainly grows edamame (young soybeans), rice, barley and a spinach-type vegetable. We were charged with picking the edamame. We each had to pick one plant and then pick off the pods (see photo). We chatted with the farm owners and a neighbor couple (the husband raises bees and the wife raises beef cattle). We learned quite a bit about farming in this area. We also met a lovely young lady named Aoi from City Hall who was instrumental in arranging our farm visit. Saying good-bye to the farm and the owners, we continued on to the Heki Residence which is a lovely old 10 room house. The woman of the house said that is belonged to her husband's family whose ancestors went back to the age of the Shogun. There is a path in front of the house next to a bamboo forest that used to be a main street leading directly to Kyoto. We took off our shoes and washed our hands and then got a lesson on making vegetable sushi. We spread rice that had been mixed with rice vinegar and sugar on the sheet of nori (seafood). On top of that we placed squash, mushroom, spinach, carrot and
a roll of egg omelet. We then used a bamboo mat to help us roll up the sushi bar before cutting it into pieces (see photos). This was our lunch along with a salad with wasabi dressing, clear broth soup, a small plate of cooked vegetables: carrot, mushroom, green beans and a tofu dumpling with a lily bulb and a ginkgo seed cooked inside. There was also soy sauce for dipping and fresh ginger for garnish. The best part was the steamed edamame that we had just picked in the field. They were served hot with a bit of salt sprinkled on top (see photo). Wow! I think only one person was able to finish her plate - there was way too much food! We also were served dessert of vanilla ice cream with green tea powder on top. Dave being lactose intolerant was give a dish of grapefruit gelatin which he said was delightful. Junko talked about many things on the bus: patriotism, social security, the war, etc. She also said that we would be saying good-bye to half of the group tomorrow night as they are not going on the post-trip to Hiroshima. Someone said, "Boo-hoo" and she couldn't think of why we would use that expression to denote sadness. She said it sounded to her like the noise a pig makes and then she repeated back to us, "Boo-foo, boo-foo". Well, we all cracked up! So tomorrow night will be the Boo-Foo party! When we got back to the hotel, "the girls" went to do a little shopping. When we were shopped out (that doesn't take a long time on my part), we came back to pick up the guys for dinner. We walked down the main street thinking we might find a steak house. We did find one, but the price for a steak dinner started at 18,000 yen, which is about $225 in US dollars! We instead settled for a Japanese restaurant where again we sat at a low table with our feet in a pit underneath. We all ordered shrimp tempura and were horrified when it came covered in mayonnaise (the waitress said it was tarter sauce, but it was really mostly mayo)! We wiped it off with our chopsticks the best we could. It really was very good, but would have been so much better plain. We have been paying attention to the weather as we have heard that there is a possibility of a typhoon. Tonight's BBC channel said that we would probably be okay as it looks like it will strike further north that where we are. Tomorrow is another garden tour so I am hoping for good weather. Today was lovely - a bit windy, but quite warm.

Nara and Fushimi

Again, we are experiencing a wet day - but just off and on rain. The good news is that it is warmer today than yesterday. After breakfast, we traveled by bus to Nara, which was the capital of Japan in the 8th century. It was also the eastern end of the Silk Road. We first went to another World Heritage Site, the Todaiji Temple. Inside the Temple hall is a 50 foot tall cast bronze statue of Buddha. It sits in the world's biggest wooden structure in existence. Before walking through the gates of the temple grounds, we were greeted by the local deer. Vendors sell packages of deer food crackers and the deer are especially hungry for their treats in the morning. Naturally, Dave drew the biggest crowd (see photo)! This must be a very popular site for school field trips as there were hundreds of children going to visit the Buddha and laughing at the antics of the deer. Inside the temple, there was an unfinished pillar with a small tunnel at the base. The children all lined up to squeeze themselves through the tunnel as it is supposed to bring good luck. One boy said hello to me so I said, "How are you?". He clutched at his stomach and replied, "I'm hungry!" I told Junko what a charge I got out of his reply and she told a story about the prime minister of Japan a number of years ago. He was practicing his English so that he could greet President Clinton who was coming for a state visit. Upon meeting the president, the prime minister said, "Hello" and instead of saying, "How are you?", he said "Who are you?". Non-plussed, President Clinton replied, "I'm Hilary's husband.". Assuming that President Clinton had said he was fine, the prime minister replied, "Me, too!" Our next stop was to the Kasuga Shrine (Shinto) located in a beautiful forest in which thousands (2000 standing and 1000 hanging) of stone lanterns are lined up on the way up the hill to the shrine (see photo of hanging lanterns). We were extremely fortunate to witness some children coming for a special blessing. Young babies are brought to the shrine to show the spirits that a new child has been born and then girls are presented at ages 3 and 7 and boys at age 5 for a special children's' blessing. We saw two little girls, a boy (one of the girl's brother) and a baby coming to the shrine today (see photo of the brother and sister). We went into the city center of Nara for lunch at a delightful Japanese restaurant. We had steam baskets of pork and sprouts in one and fish, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato and dikon radish in the other. There were also pickles, rice, soup and green tea. For dipping there was a soy and citrus sauce, but the most interesting and wonderful tasting was a sesame sauce. We were given a bowl with sesame seed and a wooden pestle to grind them. We then poured the sesame sauce over the freshly ground seeds making a delicious sauce for the pork and vegetables! On our drive back to Kyoto, we stopped at the Fushimi Inari Shrine to see 20,000 red torii gates placed one after another along a trail going up the mountain. We only walked a small part of the trail, but it was absolutely beautiful (see photo)! This is the shrine that you see the main character going through in the movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha". The shrine just celebrated 1300 years of existence! When we got back to Kyoto, the bus driver dropped some of us off at the Kyoto Handicrafts Center. Here we were able to pick up a few items to bring home. Dave didn't feel all that well so he went back to the hotel. When we were all done shopping, the store sent us back to the hotel in a cab on their dime as their shuttle bus was full. What a great service! Dave still wasn't feeling great so I went out to pick up some crackers and juice. John, Lana and Kelly went for dinner at an Italian restaurant across the street and then went to the vending machine in the hotel for an ice cream dessert. The Japanese a very big on vending machines. They are all over - inside and outside of buildings. You can get water, juice, snacks, beer, green tea, coffee, ice cream - all from vending machines which are kept immaculate by the companies that fill them. I had never seen a vending machine being polished until I came to Japan! Dave is still sleeping so I hope with all of the extra rest, he will feel better tomorrow.

Zen Meditation and Tea Ceremony

We went for a walk this morning down by the river. We saw a group of junior high school age boys dressed in their bright green P.E. uniforms running, with their teacher in a suit jogging behind them. They smiled and waved as we stopped to take their picture and yelled, "Good Morning!" We saw a number of ducks and herons in the river. We did walk through a few scattered sprinkles, but it soon cleared up. It did turn out to be a lovely day, but cold for a change. It was in the 40's this morning, but warmed up quickly especially if we were standing in the sun. Our first stop after breakfast was to the Daitokuji Monastery where we enjoyed a tea ceremony (the Japanese prefer to call these formal tea gatherings). We knelt on the floor (some of the less flexible sat on stools) and watched as a monk performed the ritual of making the tea. We then were served a bowl of tea with two rice cookies and took our cues from Junko for how to perform each of the steps involved. After tea, we moved to a different room for a lesson in meditation. This was performed while in the cross-legged position. I think I failed, as all I could think about was my hips stretching and my feet falling asleep. I wasn't certain I could get up afterwards, but I managed. The gardens outside of the meditation building were lovely. Shaped bushes and small trees surrounded by white pebbles which had been raked into patterns resembling currents of water (see bottom photo). It was a very nice experience. We got back on the bus and went to visit the Golden Pavilion. The pavilion is covered in gold leaf and is set on the side of a large pond and magnificent gardens (see middle photo). We enjoyed walking around and taking multiple photos of the various features in the garden - really quite beautiful. We ran into a group of junior high school students on a field trip and took their picture. We asked them what their favorite subject was in school and they replied, "P.E." - kids are the same everywhere! On our way out of the park, we were stopped by a small group of younger children (sixth grade) accompanied by their teacher. One of them asked me if I had a dime and I explained that I didn't have any American coins with me. Kelly told me later that he asked if I had the TIME to talk. I got a good laugh out of that faux-pas! At any rate, we did chat with them for a bit. They had a composition book with prepared questions, such as Where do you live? Do you like Japan? What is your favorite city? Some of them were quite shy and consulted the book carefully before asking the question and others were a bit bolder. One boy had a small world map in his pocket and I pointed out Connecticut and Kelly showed them Florida. They were all very proud to be practicing their English. We then went to Kyoto University for lunch. The cafe was French and we had a lovely lunch of swordfish. Dessert was a small piece of spice cake with champagne sorbet. After lunch, we went to visit Nijo Castle - another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle was built is 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Shogun. When the fifteenth and last Shogun returned sovereignty to the Emperor in 1867, the ceremony took place in this same castle. Each of the walls in the many rooms was painted on gold leaf. There are over 300o paintings in the whole castle. I can't imagine how many tatami mats there are! The rooms were lovely and the paintings were of tigers, leopards, pine trees, cranes, chrysanthemums, etc. The floors of the hallways sing as you walk. This was done intentionally so that the Shogun's protectors would know if anyone was sneaking up on him. They call this the Nightingale walk as it does sound like birds as you walk along. Usually you want the floor not to squeak, but it does make sense in this setting. The gardens around the palace were again quite lovely. Our next stop was to the Temple of 1000 Buddhas. The building is 319 feet long and technically there is only one Buddha statue and 1000 Kannon (the almost-Buddha figures with 20 arms on each side and one in the front and eleven heads - one large one and 10 additional small ones on top pointing in all different directions. No photos were allowed in either the Palace or the Temple. Again there was a small but lovely garden outside of the temple (see top photo). Our last stop of the day was to the train station we came in on yesterday. It is a totally amazing modern building. It is very hard to describe, but it is tall and open with many reflecting surfaces. We took a series of escalators up to the sky walk and then came down the other side. Bad news - they have a decorated Christmas tree up already and it is not yet Halloween! We had wonderful views of the city from the sky walk including the Kyoto Tower which looked great against the darkening sky. When we came down the other side, we could see a lighted pavilion that is frequently the site of brides and grooms for picture taking after the ceremony. There is a large bell nearby that they ring. We unloaded our cameras etc. in the room when we got back to the hotel and walked a couple of blocks to a mall where we had wonderful pizzas in an Italian restaurant. Dinner was on our own tonight so it was just the five of us, but two other couples from our tour group came in as we were finishing and we gave them hints on which pizzas were the best. We did a quick tour of the mall to see if we could find a sweatshirt for Kelly as she nearly froze today, but no luck! Maybe she will find something tomorrow. She opted not to go on the optional tour and will spend the day exploring the city on her own. John and Lana and Dave and I will go on the tour. I did a load of wash when we got back from dinner and am waiting for it to dry so I can hop into bed.

Kanazawa to Kyoto

We woke up this morning to pouring rain! We decided to walk anyway, but weren't real anxious to get soaked so walked halfway around the hotel/department store building and then took the pedestrian tunnel under the street which came up next to the big fish and produce market which is all under cover. We walked up and down the aisles watching the merchants set up their wares for the day. Our walk was a bit shorter than usual, but we did get some different exercise by walking up and down the stairs to the pedestrian tunnel. After breakfast we had to pack up our large bags which are being sent by truck to Kyoto and will arrive tomorrow afternoon. We packed for one night and one day in our small bags and then met in the lobby for our home host visit. We took our jug of maple syrup and our small album of family pictures. John and Lana had a package of a lovely burled cherry handmade pen, a decorative broach, a magnet of lighthouses, and picture cards of Niantic and Hole in the Wall beach. Kelly wrapped a box of key lime cookies in a map of Florida beach towel which was a real ice breaker as she could show them where Tampa (her city), Cape Kennedy, and Disney World are. Our hosts had taken their grandchildren to Tokyo Disney last year. The folks we went to visit have a lovely home in the city. The husband is 67 (we don't know how old the wife is) and they have two married sons and four grandchildren. He owns a local liquor/convenience store and two of the grandchildren come to their home after school each day. They were very gracious and he showed us around their rather large home. He is very much into collecting Japanese art and had many examples around the house. He also showed us his collection of ancient art scrolls. He was very proud and deservedly so of his collection. He and his wife allowed us to try on kimonos (see photo). Lana is wearing his late mother's silk one and I am in his wife's cotton one. His wife has 40 kimonos and they are kept in shallow drawers and wrapped in paper. They had recently renovated their kitchen and there were storage spaces everywhere including in a trapdoor space built into the kitchen floor! We sat on cushions in their living room at a low table where our legs and feet dropped into a space under the table (this space can be heated in the winter which would make it quite cozy. We were served green tea and soft rice cakes and then coffee and crispy rice cakes. He spoke English quite well - only occasionally groping for a word. She seemed not to speak as well as he. He showed us picture albums of his family and then some of their trip to Okinawa for their 30th anniversary. He was quite funny as when he was showing off the pictures, he would say, "and here is my wife: eating, drinking, shopping!" He said this several times - it was quite funny. He then showed a picture of himself with his head cut out of the photo and said, "my wife took this one". They were a lovely couple and we enjoyed our visit. As a gift to us, he wrote in calligraphy using characters, "Ichi-go Ichi-e", which means this is a once in a lifetime encounter - "treasure every meeting for it will never recur." He then put his name and address, today's date, and our names. The date was interesting as he used 22 for the year, which is the 22nd year for the current emperor. We then walked around the corner to his shop and treated everyone to a glass of top-notch sake (this one uses 45% of the rice - polished - and 55% is removed) and everyone agreed that it was very smooth. His wife then presented us with ceramic cups and we were waved off in our taxis to return to the hotel. We had a short time for lunch so we went to the basement of the department store where we picked up a banana and a pastry from the bakery. We ate in our room and then took our small bags down to the lobby to begin our next adventure. We took the train from Kanazawa to Kyoto. It was still pouring in Kanazawa, but gradually began clearing as we got nearer to Kyoto. About a half an hour from our destination, we passed the largest lake in Japan and just before reaching Kyoto, we saw a double rainbow in the sky. One of them was absolutely brilliant and at one point we could see both ends! I'm sure this is a sign of good luck for our stay in Kyoto. We got to the hotel and then after freshening up, met up again in the lobby for our evening adventure. We took the subway to the other side of the river and visited the pleasure district. We saw one geiko from the back as she was hurrying to a party, but then saw a maiko (an apprentice to becoming a geiko - see photo). Remember the book/movie, "Memoirs of a Geisha"? We then walked to our tempura restaurant. We had miso soup, salad with dried fish flakes, pickles, egg custard soup, rice, pickles, and fresh tempura: shrimp, mushrooms, fish, pumpkin, and broccoli. Dessert was green tea ice cream. We were all stuffed! Forget trying to lose any weight on this trip! As promised, I have included a picture from the food department in the department store. This is a box of chocolate candies - aren't they beautiful? The weather here is quite a bit cooler so I'm glad I packed my sweatshirt and fleece in the small bag. Tomorrow we will go on a city tour to see some of the highlights of Kyoto.

A day in the mountains

Dave and I went for a lovely walk this morning along the river. It was a bit misty, but not really raining. After breakfast, we hopped on the bus for a full day of adventure in the mountains, which was an hour's ride from Kanazawa. Our first stop was to the village of Gokayama. In the olden days, this area was virtually inaccessible in the winter. It is nestled between the mountains and they generally get 6 to 12 feet of heavy snow from November to April. Now there are tunnels in the mountains so that people can more easily reach them. One of the tunnels was 8 miles long! This village is a UNESCO site. The village has many gassho-style houses which have steep and thickly thatched roofs (see photo). The living quarters are on the main floor and the tall 3 story attic was used for storage and as a workplace in the winter when they were confined. Some of the crafts that they did in the attic were storing and caring for silk cocoons and paper making. One part of the village was known for making gunpowder in the age of the Shogun. We visited one of the oldest gassho houses and the owner of the house explained the art of gunpowder production and then performed a traditional Kokiriko dance in native costume (see photo). The instrument he was using to accompany his dancing was very interesting - it made a unique sound. We also visited a paper making workshop and saw how the paper is made. The process is very labor intensive, but the finished product is lovely. We visited a local restaurant for a vegetarian lunch. The soba (homemade buckwheat noodle soup) is made of locally grown buckwheat. It was delicious! We added young bamboo shoots and fiddle head ferns to our list of new things in Japan. The cafe staff sang and danced for us - we really had a wonderful time. The owners and waitresses of the restaurant waved and smiled as we left This has happened at several places and even at the hotels. The staff comes out to wave us off and they continue to wave, bow and smile until the bus is out of sight. After lunch we traveled to a different mountain village - Shirakawa-go. At the Folklore Park, we had the opportunity to make mochitsuki or sticky rice cake. The process starts with sticky rice that has been steamed. You then pound the rice with a huge mallet and alternately pound and add water until all of the gluten has been drawn out of the rice and it makes a huge ball of rice paste. It looks like and has the consistency of white taffy or warm mozzarella cheese. This is formed into balls and rolled in sweetened soy powder. We each had a ball with a side of sweetened red beans. It was really yummy! We walked around a bit and then headed back to Kanazawa. It was too bad that again we had a bit of a wet day, but it was really just off and on. Junko keeps hanging a little "sunny boy" (this looks like a small ghost with a smiling face) in the bus as we travel to try and change the weather, but so far it hasn't worked. The good news is that the mist made for some interesting shots. Junko invited us all to go with her to a Japanese restaurant that is owned by a friend of hers. Kelly went, but Lana, John, Dave and I opted to go to the steak house in the basement of the department store. I'm glad we did. The steak was a very tender filet and the chef sliced it thin and sent it back to the table on a flat lave rock so the we could cook it to order. The meal came with soup, pickled vegetables (not like our pickles - they only pickle overnight so everything is very crisp), sprouts, sliced onion, and of course, a bowl of rice. Lana and John have been looking for a new table for their kitchen and the table in the restaurant was just perfect so we did some measuring and I came back later and took a picture so they can have one make back home. We wandered over to the dessert section of the department store and found a small cafe where we shared a piece of pumpkin cake and dark chocolate cake with cherries - delicious! The frosting on the chocolate cake was black so I went back to the room to brush my teeth! Dave downloaded the camera so I could blog when I got back and then Lana and I went back down to the basement to take a picture of the table and some of the desserts. I will try to include a photo of the desserts soon. Tomorrow we will go to visit our host families in the morning and then travel by train to Kyoto. I bought a scarf today to wrap our gift of maple syrup as that is how the Japanese present their gifts. It is very elegant.