(Cost varies but we heard it costs anywhere between $2,000-5,000 for four hours! Yikes!)
Totally a must see! Great views of Kyoto and simply stunning architecutre!
There are a lot of great districts of Kyoto but the one you can't miss is the Gion District. It's absolutely amazing with traditional Japanese architecture, geishas (if you can spot one!), green tea everything, temples/shrines and lots of touristy hodge podge to buy. Spotted... a geisha! Not sure what was going on though...she was sitting with this lovely gentlemen, getting pulled on a rickshaw and stopping every few steps to take a picture....over and over again. Strange but hey, I guess if you pay that much to hang out with a geisha you might as well take millions of pictures to remember every.single.moment. (Cost varies but we heard it costs anywhere between $2,000-5,000 for four hours! Yikes!) Checking out touristy junk everywhere. Yes, I did get the umbrella below because I was so in LOVE with it (at that moment). Please don't ask me if it has seen the light of day since....but I will look so cool walking around with it with when the time comes. Mom got a fan that hasn't seen the light of day either...she is waiting for that hot day to bring it out. Ha! Such TOURISTS! The best part of the Gion district is the Kiyomizudera Temple. Totally a must see! Great views of Kyoto and simply stunning architecutre! Before we made our way to this lovely view below, we followed a huge group of tourists into the basement of another temple. We had no idea what we were doing or where we were going, just simply following the group. We paid 300 Yen, took off our shoes, and followed the crowd into a pitch dark basement. Pitch dark! You were able to hold onto a rope and follow the crowd, such a strange experience. We probably wondered around the basement for a good ten minutes and then came up to a lit up stone. We had no clue what was going on, everything was in Japanese! Turns out, (after researching it just now) the hall is called Zuigudo Hall, it's dedicated to Buddha’s mother (Daizuigu Bosatsu) and is designed to symbolize a mother’s womb. You are supposed to make a wish when you see the lit up stone and your wish will be granted. We didn't wish for anything... I guess maybe just light...so by paying 300 yen our wish came true! We saw light at the end of the tunnel. Once again, big time tourists!
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Finally!!! Beautiful blooming cherry blossoms! Anywhere we traveled to it was too early to see them, but we finally had some luck by Kyoto Castle. Yay! Nijō Castle (Kyoto castle) Beautiful architecture Cherry blossoms & Japanese gardens! Great way to spend an afternoon. After checking out the Nijō Castle, we stumbled upon another shrine near the Gion District called the Yasaka Shrine. They were setting up for a cherry blossom viewing festival, so there were lots of food, drink and toy vendors. We sat on red benches, had a beer and enjoyed looking at the few lonesome cherry blossoms...only imagining how beautiful it must be to see the whole park in full bloom. Beer and takoyaki aka octopus balls. (Not real balls people, relax. Just ball shaped snacks filled with octopus. Oishii!)
I normally don't review hotels on our blog but our Japanese roykan experience was totally worth a mention. We decided to spend our first two nights in Kyoto at a traditional Japanese inn, that means wearing cotton kimons to bed and sleeping on the floor! So cool! A traditional roykan is a kind of "bed and breakfast" that features tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and public areas where visitors can wear cotton kimonos and interact with the other guests. Most roykans are family owned and very pricey, a night can easily cost you around $400! Thankfully the roykan we found was very reasonable priced at around $150 a night. Yay, savings! Modern yet traditional, beautiful, and cozy! Technically speaking this was not a real ryokan because breakfast and dinner are not included in the price. But at a $100 a night we were just happy to get a kind-of a traditional Japanese experience! So I would think of this as a Japanese bed and breakfast with hotel accommodations. Ha! Our private room had a bathroom, mini fridge and even a TV. Did I mention this place is spotless?! Talk about clean! Loved it. Highly recommend this place for anyone visiting Kyoto and wanting a reasonably priced Japanese roykan experience.
Check out their website: Kyomachiya Ryokan Sakura. For those of you that have seen Memoirs of a Geisha, the image below will be familiar. It's the scene where the geisha runs through thousands of tori gates to a temple. Very cool but oddly enough when you actually visit the site, the first thing you will wonder is where the heck was she actually running to?! Into the forest?! The tori gates continue for a good two hours with nothing else in sight other than a forest. Mmmm...Gotta love Hollywood! My mom and I arrived at the Fushimi Inari-Taisha on a nice sunny day. Thank goodness because we decided we would hike the whole Inari mountain and take in all of the tori gate sights. Fun idea in theory, but after you see the first 5,000 tori gates, you decide it all looks the same and start questioning why you have been hiking for 2 hours. Grrr, we are such tourists! The main Shinto shrine is located at the foot of the mountain. Inari is the Shinto god of rice, sake, and prosperity, so the whole shrine and smaller shrines leading up the mountain are dedicated to the god. Foxes can also be found everywhere because they are thought to be Inari's messengers. And there are a lot of fox statues, some even wearing red decorative bibs. In the Shinto tradition, foxes as well as the color red are used to ward off evil and illness. Starting our 2.5 hour hike. Still smiling and excited to photograph every, single, tori gate. In Japan, Inari is also seen as the patron of business, so each of the tori gates are donated by a Japanese business or individual. You will find the donor's name and the date of the donation on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen ($4,200) for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen ($10,000 +) for a large gate. After a 30-45 minute hike we made it to the half way summit, called the Yotsutsuji intersection. We took in some nice sights of Kyoto, rested our legs and made a quick stop for some sake. There are a few restaurants located along the path but most of them are located on the first part of the hike. So bring snacks and water! There were A LOT of little tori gates hanging up at the smaller shrines. Anyone can purchase a small tori and put on their wishes. Here is our tori with wishes for both of our families, Fitzgerald and Dąbrowscy - USA/Poland. Totally worth the $15. Little shrines with a plethora of tori gates. A lot of the smaller shrines look very similar to Buddhist cemeteries...so we were not sure exactly what we were looking at. Still cool though. Awesome views from our hike. I was totally worn out though. ;) This was actually my second time visiting Inari mountain. The first time around, I went with my cousin and we flew through the whole trail hoping to find the main shrine on top of the mountain...somehow we missed it. So this time, I made sure to pay close attention...well...we did find the "top" of the mountain but only because a little store put up a sign that this was indeed the top of the mountain. Nothing special. Not worth your time to climb up and down stairs for two hours. Unless you want to that is. Then go ahead, climb away. So here are my tourist recommendations.
Exploring the Tsukiji fish market is definitely a must-do in Tokyo! The fish market is the largest fish market in the world and the top destination for sushi lovers. Many tourists like to see the famous tuna auction that takes place between 5 - 615 in the morning, however, I am NOT a morning person. The couple of times I visited the market I never arrived before 9 am. This time was no different, my mom and I arrived around 9 am and still loved exploring the market. There are a lot of vendors selling different types of seafood, speciality knives, as well as tea. Buckets of eels, massive crabs, octopus, fish-shaped cakes, as well as anything and everything relating to tuna can be found here. The market is great for people watching as well as trying out new types of food: fried tuna bits, little critters on skewers, as well as the traditional sushi! If you are brave enough, make sure to check out all the samples! After wondering around the small streets and admiring all the seafood that was starring at us, we were ready to eat sushi! We found rows of tiny restaurants with eager tourists and locals waiting in line to get in. We patiently waited in line for about 30 minutes until a spot opened up. Next came one of the best meals of our trip! Sushi, sushi and more sushi...oishii!!!! Have you ever had a food moment? A moment of true bliss, where your taste buds were taken on a magical journey? When you took a bite, all you wanted to do was savor the flavor and chew slowly, so the moment would lasts forever? I've tasted some delicious food in my lifetime but this truly was my first euphoric food moment! Feeling truly content, happy, joyous, and excited I savored every single bite as if it were my last. Thank you Tsukiji Market! They weren't lying when they said the BEST sushi in the world can be found here.
The next day started off early with instant coffee and a Japanese breakfast of champions, tuna rice balls. Those two things definitely do not go together but for some reason were always my go-to meal. The shuttle picked us up at 7:30 am and we quickly traveled through Tokyo, stopping at other hotels to pick up tour goers and finally ending at the Hato Bus Tour terminal. We decided to book a full day tour, the Dynamic Tokyo. We wanted to see it all! And having an awesome Japanese tour guide was an added bonus. The first stop was the Tokyo Tower. I've seen the tower on many pictures of Tokyo but didn't have a huge desire to check it out, after all it was just a copy of the Eiffel Tower painted in orange and white, right?! I quickly learned that the answer is both yes and no. Our tour guide mentioned that Japan is famous for adapting foreign designs and making them better. The Tokyo Tower was no exception; it was built in the 1950′s as a symbol of Tokyo’s economic power and closely modeled after the Eiffel Tower. Although from the outside it looks a lot like it's French counterpart, the tower is actually taller measuring 333 meters (1,093 feet) and lighter. It houses a lot of different attractions, restaurants as well as a 2-storey observation deck. Since my mom and I are brave little travelers we decided to check out Tokyo from the higher observation deck (250 meters, 820 feet). Seeing Tokyo from above gave me a new appreciation of the city and it's enormity. It didn't matter which window we looked out, the city just stretched and stretched into infinity. There was no end. No beginning. Just tall building after tall building filling up the whole horizon. Very remarkable sight. After admiring Tokyo from above we were off to the Happo-en garden. The name "Happo-en" means "a garden which is beautiful from all angles", and that is certainly true here. We strolled through the tree-lined paths of the garden and acquired a new appreciation for Japanese landscaping. The grass was meticulously manicured, the bushes were evenly trimmed, and century old bonsai, cherry and maple trees covered the landscape. A school of koi fish slowly swam through the clear pond water. Young couples walked around in traditional Japanese wedding attire, posing for photographers. People laughed and enjoyed the beautiful early spring weather. The whole scene was enchanting! Amidst all of the beauty we stumbled upon a little wooden teahouse with colorful red umbrellas. Our group was instructed to walk in and take a seat on long wooden benches that lined each side of the teahouse. Silence. The tea master emerged wearing a beautiful pink kimono. She walked in quietly shuffling her feet. She bowed and passed out a piece of sweet candy to each of us. She then preformed a beautiful choreographed ritual; she took her time as she measured out the powdered green tea, and then gracefully whipped her wooden tea whisk. She slowly poured water into the cup and delicately mixed the components. The ceremony was enchanting and performed with precision. The tea was served in decorative ceramic cups. We slowly sipped the thick mixture and enjoyed the serene surroundings. In a strange way, the tea reminded me of Italian espresso, giving us a much needed extra kick of energy. After seeing a couple of lonely blooming cherry trees (they were late coming out) in the garden we boarded the bus and headed to lunch at Tokyo's Japanese Garden Restaurant, Chinzan-so. The restaurant is situated in a large garden that offers walking paths and historical artifacts. The restaurant reminded me of Benihana where the chef prepared the food right at your table, however, the food at this resturant was awesome compared to the mediocre American chain. The vegetables and meat were grilled on a stone grill created from Mount Fuji's molten lava! Very impressive! Once again, the chef precisely and masterfully grilled the vegetables and meat. It looked more like a choreographed show than meal preparation. The food was served without any thick sauces or extra added flavors, just soy sauce. Perfectly simple flavors served in a quaint Japanese setting. After a much needed lunch, we were back on the bus heading to see the Imperial Palace. The palace and it's garden are very large, sprawling 3.41 square kilometres (1.32 sq mi). Here is a fun fact, during the height of the 1980s Japanese property bubble, the palace grounds were valued by some as more than the value of ALL the real estate in the state of California. Wowza! The palace is open to the public only two days a year, on January 2 and on the Emperor's Birthday, December 23. Since we weren't there on those dates we simply walked up the long gravel walkway and looked at the Nijubashi Bridge, took a picture, and headed back to the bus. In all honestly, you can't see much when you get there. In my opinion, it's neither impressive nor a must see in Tokyo. The next part of the tour varies seasonally, when the cherry blossoms are out, tour goers get to experience a cherry blossom festival, otherwise the Sumida River sightseeing tour is in place. I can't believe we missed the cherry blossoms! We planned out the whole trip to see them but since it was a chilly spring they were delayed by a week. Ugh, oh well! We did enjoy the 40 minute river cruise though! The river taxi was packed, not only with our group but also with others opting out of the overly packed subway system. The boat cruised slowly, passing under 12 bridges and making occasional stops on it's way. We sat, ordered two beers and enjoyed the ever-changing Tokyo skyline. The boat cruise led us to this lovely site: Tokyo SkyTree on the left and the famous "Golden Poop" on the right. I'll cut right to the chase, the building on the right is the headquarters of Asahi Beer company. The shape of the gold building is that of a beer mug (can you see it?!), and the building on the right is supposed to resemble a beer glass with a golden flame. The flame was actually supposed to stand vertically but since Japan experiences a lot of earthquakes the architects decided to place it horizontally for safety, hence spoiling the actual effect and giving it the lovely nickname. ;) My favorite part of Tokyo was up next, Asakusa and the Buddhist temple Senso-ji. This is the one place in Tokyo I truly felt the old charm of Japan. We walked toward the temple on the famous Nakamise Street, where rows of small shops line the street and vendors sell all kinds of Japanese souvenirs. Chop sticks, kimonos, sake sets as well as other typical and kitschy souvenirs can be found here. If you are looking to buy gifts for family and friends buy it here, by far the best prices and selection in Tokyo! Walking through the crowds we arrived at the majestic Sensi-ji temple. It was absolutely stunning! Massive, made out of red and white wood, and decorated with gold. This was the Japan we were craving to see! Paper lanterns hung in rows, people prayed, incenses burned and dozens of statues surrounded the temple grounds. We were completely mesmorized by the beauty of the temple, the gardens and all the traditional symbols of Japan. Finally we felt as through we escaped modern Tokyo and got lost in the traditional old world Japan. This is where we said goodbye to our tour and ventured out alone. Asakusa was the last stop and the bus was going back to the Hato bus terminal across town. I highly recommend the tour to anyone! It was informative, gave us a great overview of Tokyo, and the tour guide was awesome!!! We had a great day and got a new appreciation of this massive city of 33 million.
This post is incredibly overdue since my mom came to visit us in Japan in late March/early April but hey, a late post is better than no post :) So starting with this entry there will be a short series of posts about our two week journey through Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Nikko. I'll do my best to explain all the places we saw, offer some travel tips as well as post lots of pictures. (There's a surprise, right?!) If you have any questions about any of the featured places please don't hesitate to contact me! I would love to help. So first off meet my mom, Grace. Here she is at the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo on the first leg of our two week adventure. She is smiling and taking it all in, not knowing that when the light changes green she will get trampled by thousands of Japanese people crossing the famous scramble crosswalk. My mom loves traveling and taking photographs, sound familiar?! Now you know who I get it from. She is an absolutely great travel companion! She is the first person to jump at a chance to try new things and go off the beaten path. We arrived in Tokyo in the afternoon and after checking into our hotel we ventured to Shibuya to see the famous crossing at night. Shibyba is the district with the iconic crosswalk you see in all the movies of Tokyo, hundreds of people cross the street in a million different ways. Thankfully, I somewhat knew my way around the crazy Tokyo subway system because this was my fourth trip to the city. If you are planning on a Tokyo visit I would highly recommend asking the subway personnel for a map of the JR Lines as well as of the Tokyo Metro. There are two different train systems going through the city and not all stations have an English map. I carried mine all the time, you wouldn't want to be caught figuring out this lovely diagram: The best view of the craziness is at the Shibuya Starbucks (you can see it on the right of the photo below). You don't have to buy coffee to go to the second floor, it's for free! If you love coffee, it's a bonus. You can sit right by the windows, sip some delicious Starbucks coffee and watch the craziness unfold below. By far this is the best free location to view the Shibya crossing. The area is also one of the fashion centers of Tokyo (please note "one of" because there are a lot of them). It attracts a lot of young people as it is also a major nightlife area. Anytime I went to visit it was absolutely packed! Check out the "Basketball Street," it's located right past the Starbucks, as you walk down it you will see plenty of stores and restaurants as well as a six story Forever 21! My mom and I ventured inside but after the third floor everything started to look the same. The big disappointment was that all the clothes were similar to the ones in the States, well except they had a Hello Kitty collection. Big whoop! As we wondered around the rainy Shibuya all we could think about was getting back to our hotel, stopping at the local Seven Eleven to pick up some sandwiches, salad and sake and resting up for another day filled with Tokyo exploration. Especially because we had an all day tour planned!
On a side note, food at convenient stores such as Seven Eleven, Lawson, and Family Mart is actually really good! Everything is very fresh and tasty. Plus Seven Eleven is one of the ONLY places that excepts foreign debit cards at ATMs. Japanese ATMs are not open 24-7 like in the States, they function only during business hours and most only accept Japanese debit cards. If you need yen go to a local Seven Eleven ATM. This past weekend we were fortunate to travel to Colorado to see Mike's (Dan's brother) senior night at the Air Force Academy. We had an absolutely AMAZING weekend filled with basketball celebrations. Mike had an amazing night and we couldn't be more proud. Air Force beat #12 New Mexico on a three point shot (almost) buzzer beater...the student section stormed the court and lifted up Todd Fletcher (who scored the last three to win) and Mike. AMAZING, doesn't even come close to describing it! Everyone was screaming, jumping around and celebrating. What a way to end your college career!!! And we couldn't be happier to be a part of it all. Best.Senior.Night.EVER!! Mike celebrating. As Dan put it: "My brother Michael Fitzgerald. He's a stud, but doesn't get a big head about it....well, he does and he doesn't! What a rockstar." Who wouldn't want to have a huge head cutout?! Awesomeness. Here is a video of the celebrations. If you watch closely you can see Mike getting lifted up at the end of the video. I was too excited to keep filming so I totally missed the full moment. Ugh. A little glimpse will have to do! All Images © Air Force Academy.
I fell in love with yoga soon after we came back from Germany in 2009. I was on a mission to lose my schnitzel and beer weight and needed a kick start. I soon discovered an awesome studio close to my parents house and was completely hooked. The studio specialized in hot yoga. I have to admit, the first few classes were absolutely miserable. Sweat pouring over me, the darkness consuming me and worst of all feeling light headed and dizzy. In those first sessions, I opted for laying on my mat for 30 minutes instead of attempting any of the poses. So much for being that college athlete! Little by little my body adjusted to the heat and the poses...then the pounds started coming off. I felt great, refreshed and most of all healthy. My practice of yoga has continued as we travel. I love trying out new studios and learning how yoga is practiced differently around the globe. The hardest part is not understanding the language. But hey, it's all totally worth it! The yoga I have encountered in Japan has been very gentle and soothing. Last season I practiced with Japanese grandmas that would stare at the only foreigner in class - awesome! This season my yoga experience has been a little different... The room was dimly lit and had two rows of elevated stones on each side with a walkway down the middle. At the end of the room there was a light and typical sauna steam coming out. We were going to do yoga in a sauna?! The elevated stones where we placed our mats were actually heated. The class was fairly small with about five students and a petite Japanese instuctor. She was beyond friendly and even taught me a couple of Japanese words before class so I could follow along. Inhale: Sutte Exhale: Haite (not sure how to properly spell that) Right: Migi Left: Hidari The class focused on gentle poses, lots of breathing and most of all embracing the heat. And man, was it hot! I haven't done hot yoga since the summer, so I was completely soaked in the first ten minutes of class. My mat was radiating heat, water was dripping off the celing and I was completely engulfed in sweat. But it felt absolutely great! Seriously. The instructor gently rang a bell three times at the beginning of class and sprayed a lavender scent. I was in heaven! She was so nice and even snuck in a couple of English words so I could follow along. Have I mentioned how much I love Japanese courtesy?! At the end of class, the bell was rung again and to refresh our sense she sprayed a lovely mint scent all over the room. I felt absolutely great, refreshed and covered in a pool of my own sweat. Absolutely lovely image, isn't it?! Yoga in Japan this season has been an awesome experience! Thank you so much for the wonderful couple of classes and the picture, because who wouldn't want to take a photo with the only completely lost foreigner?! Arigato!
A couple of weeks back, my friend and fellow basketball wife, Alicia and I were discussing where we should take our mini Japanese vacation. Should we go to Tokyo to visit friends, or brace ourselves for the cold and visit Sapporo during their 64th Annual Snow Festival?! We opted for the latter since we knew we would never visit Sapporo or Hokkaido any other time. Plus we heard great things about the snow festival and wanted to check it out in person. So on a snowy Akita night, I boarded my 12 hour night train and headed through underwater tunnels to Sapporo! The train was actually a pretty cool experience. I bought a "carpet sleeper seat" and hoped for the best since no one at the train station could really explain to me what a carpet sleeper seat was. So praying I wouldn't be sleeping on a dirty patch of carpet I boarded the train...to my surprise the carpet sleeper area was awesome! There were sections of six carpet beds next to each other, each separated by a curtain. On top of each section there were two semi-private bunks. I lucked out and had my own private bunk, all with a clean pillow and a white blanket. The whole place was spotless!! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, after all, this is Japan! I have to admit, my heart stopped twice when I saw a group of little kids and then a girl with two cages filled with four cats board our cart...eeek! "Please let me sleep." But in typical Japanese fashion, as soon as the train started moving everyone became silent and the next 12 hours flew by! I missed going underneath the longest underwater tunnel in the world and would only occasionally wake up when I heard the conductor stomp through our cart. Now this is the kind of traveling I could get used to! Happy we finally arrived in Sapporo! We checked out the impressive snow sculptures at the Odori site. The snow festival has three different sites but we split our time between Odori (snow sculptures) and the Susukino (ice sculptures) part of the festival. The Odori site was the main site, where there were around 140 snow and ice sculptures filling a 1.5 km park. Very cool! Unfortunately, we picked the worst night to see the lit snow sculptures. Our umbrellas couldn't handle all the snow and wind. A little Japanese rock concert in front of the sculptures. Yes, please! Heeeey hottie! haha Alicia was quite famous at the Snow Festival! Oh the life of a famous basketball wife! The Susukino site displaying approximately 60 ice sculptures. There were a couple of sculptures displaying Hokkaido fish and shellfish frozen in ice. Very cool! Hokkaido is known for their seasonal crab; Hairy (kegani), Snow (zuwai), King (taraba) and Hansaki crab. I'm really not sure which types we tried...well other then hairy crab since I noticed a floating furry leg in my soup. Oishii! After getting over the initial shock, it was very delicious. We also tried spicy miso ramen in the famous Ramen Alley. Sapporo has more than a thousand ramen restaurants and is even called the City of Ramen. Double oishii! After a delicious meal at Ramen Alley we were off to find a Japanese photo booth. I have never experienced this "must-do" activity in Japan, so we were on a mission to fulfill my photo booth void. Japanese photo booths are like no other in the world. You can lighten your skin, make your eyes bigger, add numerous hearts, stamps and poorly written English phrases. Such as an awesome/wacky saying "We are Best Friends Forever. Happy♥Love." Hmmm. Happy♥Love?! Plus, these booths tell you how to pose...amazing! Check out our "kawaii" photo experience!! You know I will be dragging Dan to one of these. Mmmmm Sapporo beer! On the last day of our trip we decided to try some famous Japanese beer and take a tour of the Sapporo Beer Museum. This museum is the only beer museum in Japan and has been selected as a Hokkaido Heritage site. But let's not kid ourselves, we were only there for the beer. So we cruised through the museum (free of charge!) and then ended up at the Sapporo Bier Hall where we enjoyed a delicious cold sampler of Sapporo beer. Awesome trip! Well worth dealing with all the snow and wind in order to enjoy delicious food, cold beer and see some impressive snow and ice sculptures!
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