Hi Everyone!! We just got back from our first adventure off the island of Okinawa!! It was great to get away and travel a bit in this area of the world. We decided our first trip would be to Kyoto, Japan, and it was an awesome choice!! We were there for 5 days and 4 nights, which was enough, but not enough. Kyoto is a thriving metropolis (over 1 million people), but it is the oldest city and Japan's first capitol. Kyoto is one of the only cities that survived the bombing during the war, so despite the modern updates, all of the temples and shrines have survived. It was an impressive visit, to say the least. The kids did really great - even though it was not exactly a "kids" vacation (I'm sure they would have much rather been listening to the Japanese version of "It's a Small World . . .", but maybe another time). We booked our hotel and flight through the base travel company, but other than that, we planned our touring on our own. Dan mastered the bus schedule and we ended up using the express train, subway, city buses, and a taxi - OH! Did I mention WALKING??? We probably put 20 miles on our shoes! I had planned several tours, mostly led by local people, and they turned out really well. Our favorite was a Goodwill tour given by a 2nd year college student. Her name was Shoko and she was a beautiful young lady who spent 9 hours with our family - all for FREE! We paid her way into the places we saw, fed her lunch and snacks, but she was volunteering and wouldn't accept any money for compensation! She was a wonderful tour guide, loved the kids, and we had the greatest day with her. I think we covered almost the entire city with her. I lost count of how many busses we took that day. Anyway, we also took a tour with a gentleman who is married to an ex-Geisha. Now, he was a little bit of a shady character, but the information he provided on the life of the Geisha (about 200 still active in Kyoto, compared to over 1000 in the earlier days) was interesting. I'm hoping the girls don't remember too much from that tour, as some of the information he provided was not so much for kid's ears! We maybe saw two Maiko (Geisha apprentices), but our tour guide thought they were "fakes so I don't know. I included a few pictures of them, because they were the only ones we saw, and it gives you an idea of what they would look like. The food in Japan still is taking some getting use to, so McDonalds was a welcome sight for the kids! We gave in a number of times as a reward! So much for trying the local cuisine! One day, we took a side trip down to Nara, which was about an hour and a half train ride away. There we saw the tallest temple and the largest Buddah in the world. Sydney also got head butted by "tame" deer that wander throughout the parks looking for food. That was another great day, though. The torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine were fun to run through and I actually think the kids really liked that day and the things we saw. I guess I better mention one other thing that the kids probably enjoyed most - the Japanese bathhouse. Our hotel had a bathhouse, and every evening we went down to bathe and soak in a very hot and relaxing hot pool. Of course, bathing suits were not allowed, so we got to wear our birthday suits to this venue. Morgan and Sydney had a ball, mom endured it because the hot tub was awesome, and Brenna finally joined us on the last two days. Dan went to the mens bath after I told him of our experience and also enjoyed the relaxation. There were loads of tourists in Kyoto, many Europeans and Chinese people, but I often found people snapping pictures of our girls, who stood out like sore thumbs with their brightly colored rain jackets and blonde hair. I swear we were the only ones wearing any color! Anyway, the kids impressed the locals with a few phrases and conversation with the Japanese they have learned, and it was nice interacting with the friendly people. I've probably written a book, so don't feel bad if you had to skim read!! It was a really neat city! Now it is back to work here. Brenna and Morgan start basketball this week, Morgan gets her cast off, and Sydney gets registered for Kindergarten!!! OH! I forgot to mention that I am now a working mom! Wish me luck! More on that in another blog. Ta-ta- for now folks!
