Kyoto, Japan March 30-31,2016

We took took the Shinkensen train to Kyoto, passed Mt Fuji, yep, its pretty cool!

We arrived in Kyoto, and on the way to our hotel, stopped to check out the Higashinhonganji Temple.

Our hotel was awesome!  Traditional Japanese

We went to the Nishinki Market, and the Gion District, where we actually saw a geisha girl.

Next up was the Yasaka Jinja Shrine

This is taken at the Kiyomizu Dera Temple.  Then back to the hotel.

There is a reason there aren't more pictures.....wait for it.....

 This moment right here....
It says don't take pictures, and what am I doing?  Getting my phone ready to snap a picture!  Dean captured this terrible moment with his phone.  Shortly after taking this picture, my SD card was corrupt!  So most of the rest of these pictures are from Dean's phone.  It wasn't until Fukuoka that I noticed it, so many of the pictures of Kyoto are gone.  But that's ok, I got to see the real thing.

So we get up and head up to the public bath.  Totally new experience for me.  The hotels give you these lovely outfits to wear up to the bath.

 While no one was in the ladies side, I decided to snap a few pictures of the public bath.

 You put your clothes in these baskets.

Then you grab one of those dark stools and buckets,

You wash and shampoo here, sitting on the little stool.

 Then into the super hot tub with amazing views of the city!

 Yep, been there, done that!

Lori Boss introduced me to this amazing yogurt!  Found it in Koyto, and then didn't see it again till Toyko

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Nijo-jo Castle

 The cherry blossoms didn't disappoint!  These were on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.  (I promise I took more pictures than this at the Imperial Palace!)

 Everytime I would see this street sign, I would just hope I never ran into these two!

I could do a whole post on toilets in Japan!  Loved the signs

To-Ji Temple

 

So glad Dean snapped a few shots with his camera, or we would have nothing!

Nishi Honganji Temple

 No idea who these people were....but they looked important posing for pictures, so we had to snap one too!

If I can recover pictures from the damaged SD card, I will add more.  If not, take my word for it, Kyoto is awesome!

Tokyo, Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Yeah....only one picture, and it's blurry...long story.

Tokyo, Monday, March 28, 2016

Monday morning we went to the Tsukiji Fish Market.  On the way in, we went through lots and lots of shops with other non-fish items.

Then it was all you can stand of squid, shark, tuna, octopus, etc.

It was cool to watch these guys work, scaling and filet-ing and stuff.  

And of course, the waterfront.  Erika cannot miss a chance to be at the waterfront.

This guy is cutting the huge eyeballs out of this tuna.  They eat everything!

After the fish market, we walked over to the fancy shopping district the "ginza".  Dean really liked this happy (maybe drunk) Buddha.

This is the Kabuki Theater.  

             Erika and Lori striking a pose they learned from a schoolgirl in front of the theater.

 Check out the guys washing the building!

This is the ginza.

We got there just in time to see the morning opening ceremony (they do this every day) of one of the big department stores.  Our charmed life again.

Erika really wanted this outfit.  It was $4800.  We'll settle for a picture.

Then we walked to the Tokyo Imperial Palace.  You can't go in, but the guard towers are pretty impressive.  The fancy old castle was completely destroyed by US bombers during WW2.

Medical masks everywhere.

Dean and Lori admiring the Temple from the park across the street.

If you look carefully, you can see the reflection of the temple in this pond.

There's a really great ice cream place just around the corner from the temple.

We're getting good at figuring out which subway line we want and how much to pay to get there.

Never know what you'll find in Yoyogi Park.

Maybe some "takoyaki" (fried octopus).

More people admiring the cherry blossoms.

We didn't love the takoyaki so Dean gave it to a guy in this homeless encampment in the park.  He was really stoked!  It was still warm.

This is us walking back home.  We were pretty worn out, and Lori fed us another great meal.