Return to Kobe, Day One

Since our winter vacation is incredibly long, a week after our trip to Nagano it was time for another mini-vacation, this time to Kobe. We loved Kobe when we visited over the summer, and so were eager to get to know the city a bit better. The day we arrived was a true winter day, cold but clear. We met up with Matt's Japanese teacher (whom we met on our last trip to the city), and after a lunch of negitoro donburi (raw tuna and scallions over rice with miso), we went for a long stroll around the canals of Kobe. It took us a long time to find the canal promenade as we wandered around the industrial ports, but eventually we came upon a scenic park and walkway that followed the canals. There were even canal cats wandering around, chasing seagulls.

On the way to the canal district we passed many shrines and temples. The area seemed particularly dedicated to Inari, the fox god whose main shrine is in Kyoto. Matt's teacher pointed out a shrine on top of a building, which you can see in the photo to the right.

We also ran into a small monument to Taira no Kiyomori, who is featured prominently in The Tale of the Heike. The story tells how Kiyomori, the head of the most powerful clan, was brought down by the Genji clan. The book apparently describes him as ruthless and evil, so much so that even in death his body does not cool. He didn't lack ambition: he created the first samurai government and even orchestrated the abdication of the throne, installing his grandson as head. However, he did commission Itsukushima shrine.

When we returned to downtown Kobe, we walked around the Harborland. We ran into a Lion Dance, traditionally done for New Year's celebrations. After the dance, people lined up for the lion to clap his teeth by their heads, for luck.

Comments

A Return to Japan, 2015

Several years ago we had the opportunity to take some good friends of ours, Bo and Liz, to Japan. I'm going to focus on the new things we did and then link to previous blog posts for reference to the things we repeated from our time living in Japan. The trip started out awesome and then kind of fell into a bad place for me and Matt, unfortunately. I chalk it up to our inability to tell Bo and Liz when we wanted to do something different from what they wanted to do, and Matt's desire to be a good guide in the country as he was the only fluent Japanese speaker. He felt a lot of responsibility and then got really tired and very stressed out, which in turn made me very stressed out. I say this not as a rebuke of our friends, who had no way to know how we were feeling since we didn't communicate, but as a gentle suggestion to anyone who travels with friends. Say how you feel and don't be passive aggressive about it. Own up to your limitations and ask for what you need. Your ...

Amazing Architecture of Kyoto

With our extremely long summer vacation, Matt and I decided to take another trip, this time south to the cities of Osaka and Kobe. We again went via nori-hodai , passing through Kyoto on the way to and from Osaka. For purposes of time and space, I'll consolidate our two Kyoto outings in this post, then move on to talk about the main part of our vacation. On the way down, we visited two temples just a short jaunt from the main JR Kyoto Station. Walking north we quickly ran into the Higashi Hongan-ji , or "Eastern Temple of the Original Vow." Apparently it is in the top few largest wooden buildings in the world. In any case, it is quite impressive. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the site, so I can't wow you with the inner glory of the temple. I can, however, show an aerial view of the complex taken from an online tourism site and wikipedia: You can see just how awe-inspiring the structures are, even from the outside. If you go...

Iceland, Part Two: Akureyri

We drove the ring road from Reykjavik to Akureyri on our second day in the country. Matt really wanted to go see The Settlement Center , due to his deep interest in Icelandic, Viking, Greenlandic, and Inuit cultures, and I was happy to go as well. We started with two great exhibits on how Iceland was settled, and finished with some amazingly great food from the attached restaurant. We were super lucky to get into the restaurant as they had a large group reserving the whole place that day! Here is a great photo from the exhibit of some masks depicting Norse Gods. In order: traditional lamb stew, gluten free bread with fresh Icelandic butter and volcanic charcoal salt, and a smoked trout on rye. After our delightful museum tour and meal, we drove up to Akureyri. It's a beach town, with an upscale beach vibe. We came for the sights around Lake Myvatn, which I'll write about in another post, yet we found some nice things to enjoy in this sleepy town as well. We stay...

Voyage Junkie

Search This Blog