climbergirl blog

Today we got up a little late, as now Dennis is under the weather. We went straight to the Imperial Palace in the center of Kyoto, just a couple blocks from HGH (Hirota Guest House).

The Palace is hosting the start of the Hollyhock festival, a parade style celebration to bring good luck on the city over the coming year. We found a spot on a grassy knoll (no we didn’t see any snipers!) and watched the procession of elaborate archers on horseback, beautiful ladies dressed in kimonos, and finally a “princess” being carried by us.

We took several pictures, but there was nobody around us explaining what all was happening, so we just watched. It was neato. (more…)

Sunday turned out to be a great day. We made it to the shinkanzen with plenty of time to grab some drinks/food for the 2 hour bullet train ride to Kyoto. In the train, I tried my best not to hack n cough all over the other patrons, but mostly I slept. The ride was so smooth, like being in a plane-amazing experience to go 150mph and be that smooth! (more…)

From May 12 to 14, I spent my time sleeping in our tiny room in Sakura Ryokan. I came down with a very nasty sinus infection. Dennis was in and out of the room on Saturday as the group went to Kamakura to see the giant bronze statue of Buddha. (more…)

After such a long day, Dennis and I decided we would like to try our hand at some local cuisine. So we settled for a “pot dinner”. We walked a few blocks from the Ryokan, to what looked like somebody’s home.

Nobody was there yet, as we were pretty early (5pm ish). So, we stepped in the foyer and shouted “Sumimasen” a couple times. A few minutes passed and an elderly lady greeted us. She did not speak much English, but since we knew a few words in Japanese, we got along fine. (more…)

After the adventure to try and see Mt. Fuji this morning, we went to the Hakone Open Air Musuem. As you know, there is nothing better than seeing art in the rain! (more…)