Sam and Al were all fired up to go see the city. They got on the hotels electric assisted bikes and cruised around the Gion District. It was like Sam had one of his buddies along. They then came back and went to the swimming pool, rocking there bathing caps ;)
After a tasty breakfast at the hotel, and some miscommunication with our guides, we caught a taxi to the Golden Pavilion. It is, like almost everything in Japan, photo perfect. The gilded building shimmers against the traditional Japanese garden and the pond which it sits by. Along the winding paths there is a place to toss coins into the offerings cup. Al made a slam dunk and the bronze bowl rang like a slot machine paying out! Smiles for all.
After meandering through the grounds, we headed to a temple near by that is known for it's zen garden and rocks and its well raked garden. As our guide described later, zen is a feeling. Almost a meditative feeling and the garden helps create and assist in that feeling and meditation. One is supposed to sit eyes open and breath in and out through your nose 10 times while holding your hands with your thumbs overlapping in a cupping oval shape.
We then took the taxi over to other zen gardens but that had a bamboo forest that was several hundreds year old. We were met by our guide Sue. The forest was So beautiful and tranquil to walk through the forest, maintained by the Buddhist monks.
We went for noodles after the temple. The udon noodles also had tempura shrimp on top. Tasty!
After lunch we decided to go visit the Noji Castle. It was HUGE! It was at the home and meeting areas for the Shogun. The Shogun and his people reigned for over 15 generations. He was very paranoid since anyone that killed a Shogun, who is like a General of the army with his warriors under him the Samurai, becomes Shogun. So they lived with many rules to keep them safe, like no Samurais can bring their swords into the castle. The gardens and grounds were immense and took almost an hour to walk around it all.
In the evening we went to the Miyako Odori show ,with the Geishas. The show was very impressive since the girls that are performing are all real Geishas. Sam was really impressed too and the curtain is amazing- colorful hand dyed silk, We went to the tea ceremony before the show began.
After the show Sam was pooped. We ordered room service and have been hanging out getting caught up on our blog and photos. Enjoyed the amazing room we have had at the Ritz.
After a tasty breakfast at the hotel, and some miscommunication with our guides, we caught a taxi to the Golden Pavilion. It is, like almost everything in Japan, photo perfect. The gilded building shimmers against the traditional Japanese garden and the pond which it sits by. Along the winding paths there is a place to toss coins into the offerings cup. Al made a slam dunk and the bronze bowl rang like a slot machine paying out! Smiles for all.
After meandering through the grounds, we headed to a temple near by that is known for it's zen garden and rocks and its well raked garden. As our guide described later, zen is a feeling. Almost a meditative feeling and the garden helps create and assist in that feeling and meditation. One is supposed to sit eyes open and breath in and out through your nose 10 times while holding your hands with your thumbs overlapping in a cupping oval shape.
We then took the taxi over to other zen gardens but that had a bamboo forest that was several hundreds year old. We were met by our guide Sue. The forest was So beautiful and tranquil to walk through the forest, maintained by the Buddhist monks.
We went for noodles after the temple. The udon noodles also had tempura shrimp on top. Tasty!
After lunch we decided to go visit the Noji Castle. It was HUGE! It was at the home and meeting areas for the Shogun. The Shogun and his people reigned for over 15 generations. He was very paranoid since anyone that killed a Shogun, who is like a General of the army with his warriors under him the Samurai, becomes Shogun. So they lived with many rules to keep them safe, like no Samurais can bring their swords into the castle. The gardens and grounds were immense and took almost an hour to walk around it all.
In the evening we went to the Miyako Odori show ,with the Geishas. The show was very impressive since the girls that are performing are all real Geishas. Sam was really impressed too and the curtain is amazing- colorful hand dyed silk, We went to the tea ceremony before the show began.
After the show Sam was pooped. We ordered room service and have been hanging out getting caught up on our blog and photos. Enjoyed the amazing room we have had at the Ritz.
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