At 1230pm we were greeted at Osaka bay by the local water fire fighters. That was neat, a fire fighting boat had about 8 different sprays in all directions that was really cool. Then we left on our tour to Kyoto.
In Kyoto we went to Nijo castle. Nijo castle is where the Shogun who was the war lord that controlled the country of Japan. While there is an emperor, the Shogun controlled the lands and people. This was his castle. There were 5 different rooms, he lived at the back and guests were greeted at the entrances. The floors creaked as you walked due to metal rubbing together. This was done as a safety measure and they call it the nightingale floor as that is what it sounds like. We had to take our shoes off to walk through.
Nijo castle
Rock garden at Nijo castle
Then we went to the Kyoumisu temple which was a Buddhist temple built on the side of a mountain. It was large and there was a large stage built over the side of the cliff. This stage had 163 pillars and wasn't built with nails. We drank water from the fountain of health and enjoyed a bit of shopping.
Entrance to Kyoumisu temple
Tonight we had dinner with a couple of ladies from the NYC area and a couple from England. We had a very nice chat with them so much so we missed the evening show.
Tomorrow is an at sea day and I look forward to relaxing. Travis has some classes he may go to, we'll just have to see where the day takes us.
Much love!
My cousin and I became obsessed with Japan when we watched the mini-series SHOGUN. I had just moved to Kansas and when my cousin and I wrote each other letters we threw in Japanese phrases to try and impress the other!
ReplyDeleteWakarimisu Jerilyn-san