Kyoto - visit to Kyoto temples

Kyoto had a number of beautiful temples

I don't remember the name of this temple, but it had a lot of cherry trees in the courtyard.  I don't remember the explanation for the bright orange paint frequently used in temples, but the orange does make for nice photos.

The pond was full of cherry blossoms:

Here are photos of our meal:

This is a soup made with sweet azuki beans and mochi.  Japanese comfort food.

We had a series of dishes that were exquisitely arranged and were just as tasty:

These are photos of our visit to the Kinkaku-ji (the golden pavilion).  The golden color is from extensive use of gold leaf.  There were throngs of people, so we were lucky to be able to get some photos wo the hordes.

Better view of the Golden Pavilion:

We had dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Okonomiyake, similar to an omelette, but with a lot of filings, like cabbage, noodles, and bonito flakes, and cooked on a griddle in the middle of each table.  It's fun to watch as well as to eat.  Here are 3 of them in different stages of preparation.  After a while, the server turns them over to finish.

The Fushimi Inari Shrine is known for its thousands of red torii gates over a network of trails that run through a forest along the side of Mount Inari.  There were a lot of people so I had to be patient to get this photo.

Kyoto Day 1 - Family visit

As part of our tour, we visited a local family in Kyoto.  The wife had a lot of kimonos, and she dressed Marge and Ann in 2 of them. Here's a photo of the couple with Ann and Marge:

In the kitchen, they had food storage in the floor:

She had a special bin just for rice in the kitchen. There is a cup in the side of it so she can get a cup of rice with a press of the button:

Here's a photo of their house which they had rebuilt. One wall is curved to follow the curve of the creek that runs along the side of the house.

He took us across the street from his house to his liquor store and gave us a sake tasting as a send off.  He also gave use a set of tea cups to bring home.  

Kanazawa - Visit to World Heritage Villages

Today we visited several Unesco World Heritage designated villages about an hour by bus from Kanazawa.  It was in the mountains above Kanazawa, and was very cold - low 30s.  There was snow on the ground, so I wore 3 layers of clothing.  The villages feature houses with thatched roofs, which last a long time but are costly to replace when they wear out.

Here's another village we visited in the same area:

We stopped at a former school, now serving as a community center, to see how to make the traditional Japanese food called mochi.  Mochi is made using a special rice that is cooked, then pounded with a wooden mallet.  Here is Joe doing his best not to hit the hands of the woman who was rearranging the rice after each stroke of the mallet:

Our next adventure in the area was to a company that makes traditional Washi paper.  We each made 3 postcards out of Washi paper.Washi paper is very durable, and I think waterproof.

Here is my lunch for the day, served at a local restaurant.  All vegetarian dishes, and tasty:

Here's our tour group at the lunch restaurant in the mountains:

1st Day in Kanazawa Garden & Historic District

We woke up early and went for a walk through the Omichi market which was a short walk from our hotel.  It was early so shop keepers, mainly fish sellers, were busy setting up.

Here are some fish:

An assortment of sweet potatoes.  I thought there were only 3 different types, but clearly there are way more than that:

After breakfast, we visited Kenrokuen garden in Kanazawa, one of the most famous gardens in Japan.  That reputation is well deserved based on our short visit.  Here we are across from the garden:

While we were in the garden, weran into my sister Ellen and her husband Lawrence.  We knew they were in Japan at the same time as us but never thought that our paths would cross. Here are the three of us siblings:

I like the moss covering the root ball of this tree:

Cherry trees lining a stream:

Cherry trees framed by pines:

Ann, Ellen and Lawrence heading into a shrine:

Cherry blossoms lining the road:

We next visited an area of old wooden buildings, here being watched over by Joe:

The 3 siblings at dinner in a sushi restaurant that night:

Photo of our meal:

Hakone sculpture garden

We visited the Hakone sculpture garden. I'm not a museum person, but I did enjoy this.

Stainless steel piece:

Another stainless steel piece, with a selfie:

Interesting piece made of colored glass:

Ann and Joe soaking their feet:

Tokyo unusual buildings

The high end shopping streets have some nicely designed buildings.  Here are some of them:

Day 5 3d day in Tokyo

Today our first segment was at the shops around the Tsukijii Fish Market.  Unfortunately tourists are no longer allowed into the fish market, but there are numerous stalls around the market selling food, produce, fish, etc.  One of the stalls was selling a confection comprised of a sweet dough in the shape of a fish, filled with sweet bean paste and grilled.   Delicious!  In my younger days I would have eaten several of them, but now I have to be satisfied with only one.
Here is the sign describing it:

Here is the woman working the cast to grill fresh ones:

We had lunch at a sushi restaurant near the fish market.  Here's a photo of the chef with our order and Ann & Joe's order of an assortment of really fresh sushi: