So. We should have planned for more time here in Takayama. I’m not sure where we’d have found the time, but I love this town and am sad to leave tomorrow morning! Part of it could be the amazing airbnb Logan found, but I think most of it is the walkable town center, fascinating shops,…
Category: International
Takayama: Day Trip Through the Time Tunnel
Today was a really good day. Last night was a little rough, though – I’m noticing it usually takes Amity a day or two to settle into a new place, which is hard when you’re moving every 3-4 nights. So, even though she had that super cool cubby, she woke up at 2:45 and demanded…
Travel Day: Nara to Takayama
Trains, trains, wonderful trains! I’m so glad Iron Butt is finally going to be showing in our local cineplex. (Don’t correct me.) Today, we took the kintetsu line from Nara to Kyoto, changed there for the Shinkansen, and then changed again for the Hida Wide View train, a fancy sightseeing train with yoooge windows and…
Nara: Rain and Wandering
So, after two days, we’ve decided we really like Nara. It’s a small town, with a lot of history, good restaurants, and wonderful roads to wander. That’s pretty much what we did today. Even the sewer covers are festooned with deer! Our first real stop was lunch, at a place called Edogawa Grilled Eel. As…
Nara: Ami almost gets eaten by deer
OMG, you guys. I guess we’ve been pushing our toddler hard, because today she woke up just before 11. My toddler is a teenager? Well, she’s at least a tween, if that look on her face is any indication. We gathered ourselves and left our apartment, stroller in tow, to find some lunch. On the…
Leaving Osaka (and friends)
Today was our last day in Osaka, and our last morning with Jody and Tori! Big old sad face on both counts. Tiny was being particularly adorable. (Less so right now, at 10:38, when she won’t go to sleep…) The morning started with a search for big, fluffy Japanese pancakes (after a search for coin…
Osaka: Taking it Easy
Unfortunately, when you’re traveling, somebody is bound to get sick. And today, that somebody was Logan. Poor guy woke up this morning feeling just awful! The rest of us hung around the apartment this morning, resting and/or getting some work done, while he convalesced. In the early afternoon, we left him to get some sleep…
Osaka: Tempozan and Baseball
Tired tired tired! But we had another great day. We got a bit of a late start this morning (much-needed). Our first stop was Tempozan, near Osaka’s port. And our first first stop after getting out there was an early lunch at a kushikatsu joint in the kitschy restaurant area inside Tempozan Marketplace. Kushikatsu is…
Sayonara Kyoto
We had to say goodbye to Kyoto today. 😦 Fittingly, the day started super rainy and gray. Tori and Jody took a day trip to Hiroshima today, so we were on our own. We slowly packed our things, hating to leave the super-comfortable Westin Miyako (and hoping that maybe if we stalled long enough, it…
Kyoto: Fushimi Inari and Strolling
Kyoto, Day 3 of not nearly enough! Today started with a trek to Fushimi Inari, a shrine with lots and lots of bright red gates stretching up a mountainside. It’s an iconic view you’ve probably seen before. Because today was the vernal equinox, the site was really crowded with domestic tourists. It was neat, though,…
Classy Otter 