Our New Wakasa Hotel in Nara turned out to be surprisingly great,...it's all about customer service and the people were so friendly. We had a traditional Japanese breakfast with those tiny fish over rice and soup and tea and all kinds of small and strange delicacies...bit over it I must say. With some rice in my belly, we took to the streets of Nara. We walked to the 3 and5 tiered pagodas this morning. The 5 tiers stand for from the top to the bottom: sky, air/wind, water, wood, earth. We made our way up the path to the Kasuga Grand Shrine. All along the path are these beautiful moss covered stone lanterns. A couple times a year, Feb and August they light them...can't imagine how incredible it must be and beautiful!! There are over 3000 stone and metal lanterns at this shrine, but they start almost a mile before you get there leading you in up wooded paths. It is so spectacular, you cant help but take tons of pictures. We walked past parks and deer, Sam loving feeding the deer, as we made our way up to the shrine. There there was a bride in an ornate colorful traditional kimono, where there were many people fussing over her as they were taking wedding portraits there. There we many monks in traditional hats and robes attending to the shrine and offerings that were being made there. At the actual shrine there are many orange buildings and copper lanterns all around the grounds. LOVED it!!
We made our way out of the shrine and along a wooded path and cut over to the pond where Syd and Kendall and I rowed boats,.... It was peaceful except for the crying baby;) and reminded me of being there with the girls. We made our way back to the hotel after walking through parks for a couple hours. We grabbed our bags and headed out early from Nara, Since we saw the Todai-Ji Temple yesterday and Sam was dieing to get more candy from Kyoto and conveyor belt sushi. When we got to the Kyoto station we found the candy he loved- the little sugar star drops right across from the sushi joint- BINGO! After 4 plates, Sam had 9 I think, we caught an early Shinkansen/aka bullet train and got to Hiroshima early. We hit the town quickly and the three of us headed to the Peace Memorial Park. It was quite moving with the large memorial building, arch and flame that wont go out until all nuclear weapons are gone and then to the children' memorial where thousands of paper cranes have been made and are there to symbolize peace. A small girl that suffered from the affects of the A bomb hoped that is she made 1000 cranes she would live. She didn't live but it prompted a shrine for children that suffered from the affects and lost their lives due to the A bomb. It is a moving space. There is a bell you can ring there. Further past there is the Peace Bell that can be rung and reminding us of peace. There are remains of the A Bomb Dome, the only remaining building after the bomb went of. There is also a memorial mound where thousands were cremated after the bomb. It was a great reminder of the cost war and how important it is to promote peace. There was also a beautiful sculpture out front of the Memorial that depicted a mother protecting her children from the storm. It was moving.
It was dark when we finished walking the park and then headed for Italian food right across the way. It was nice to take a break from Japanese food for a moment. We scouted out for soft serve for Sam and then had to settle on hard ice cream. We walked through many convenience stores and funny to see the different kinds of "snacks" they had- many were packaged or canned fish products....not like America at all.
Hit the sack at our hotel conveniently located right by the park. We have a big day tomorrow. Read our scriptures tonight from the New Testament recounting Christ's resurrection and overcoming death after suffering for us and our sins and pains in the Garden and then on the cross. We said a family prayer giving thanks for our many blessings. We hope to go to an LDS Ward tomorrow near the train station. We will first go to the Memorial and then take a taxi to church and then head to Miyajimaguchi Island that has the floating Shinto Shrine and Gate. It looks very awesome.
We made our way out of the shrine and along a wooded path and cut over to the pond where Syd and Kendall and I rowed boats,.... It was peaceful except for the crying baby;) and reminded me of being there with the girls. We made our way back to the hotel after walking through parks for a couple hours. We grabbed our bags and headed out early from Nara, Since we saw the Todai-Ji Temple yesterday and Sam was dieing to get more candy from Kyoto and conveyor belt sushi. When we got to the Kyoto station we found the candy he loved- the little sugar star drops right across from the sushi joint- BINGO! After 4 plates, Sam had 9 I think, we caught an early Shinkansen/aka bullet train and got to Hiroshima early. We hit the town quickly and the three of us headed to the Peace Memorial Park. It was quite moving with the large memorial building, arch and flame that wont go out until all nuclear weapons are gone and then to the children' memorial where thousands of paper cranes have been made and are there to symbolize peace. A small girl that suffered from the affects of the A bomb hoped that is she made 1000 cranes she would live. She didn't live but it prompted a shrine for children that suffered from the affects and lost their lives due to the A bomb. It is a moving space. There is a bell you can ring there. Further past there is the Peace Bell that can be rung and reminding us of peace. There are remains of the A Bomb Dome, the only remaining building after the bomb went of. There is also a memorial mound where thousands were cremated after the bomb. It was a great reminder of the cost war and how important it is to promote peace. There was also a beautiful sculpture out front of the Memorial that depicted a mother protecting her children from the storm. It was moving.
It was dark when we finished walking the park and then headed for Italian food right across the way. It was nice to take a break from Japanese food for a moment. We scouted out for soft serve for Sam and then had to settle on hard ice cream. We walked through many convenience stores and funny to see the different kinds of "snacks" they had- many were packaged or canned fish products....not like America at all.
Hit the sack at our hotel conveniently located right by the park. We have a big day tomorrow. Read our scriptures tonight from the New Testament recounting Christ's resurrection and overcoming death after suffering for us and our sins and pains in the Garden and then on the cross. We said a family prayer giving thanks for our many blessings. We hope to go to an LDS Ward tomorrow near the train station. We will first go to the Memorial and then take a taxi to church and then head to Miyajimaguchi Island that has the floating Shinto Shrine and Gate. It looks very awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment