Author: Ella

Grubb talked about the preserved residence of wealthy samurai Nomura in his “Not built for Belushi” post.  Rounding a corner leading to Nomura’s garden, an attendant wrangled us. Reading from his hand held translator he said “ come here to listen to the sound feature”. I was to place a bamboo tube to my ear…

Yesterday, Grubb mentioned in his kind way 🤣 that I might be having a “breath issue” 😩. My reaction? “No way, that’s your breath!” And then I snuck into the bathroom to re-floss and re-brush. Okay so maybe my dental hygiene while traveling isn’t stellar. Maybe I needed some extra strength mouthwash. This afternoon after…

The mystery of geishas only heightened for me yesterday when we roamed one of the old geisha districts, Higashi Chaya-gai, in Kanazawa.  More accurately, this is known as a Teahouse district. Historic buildings with wood lattice fronts…so you could get a hint of the elegance inside? Streets lined with colorful lanterns. What was it like on…

Among other things (like gold leaf and fu buns, snow crab and sea bream sushi), Kanazawa boasts production of the finest sake made with premo water straight from the mountain and locally grown rice. Our apartment host (Bill Smith…anyone think that’s not an alias?) prides himself on local sake knowledge so I asked “where can…

Crossing a bridge into the Higashi Chaya-gai (Eastern teahouse district), a Japanese man got my attention by pointing down at my feet with his cane at an embedded round tile and then sighting his cane out towards the river. I didn’t quite get it. His friend, who could speak some English, explained this is the…

What I didn’t know (thanks for the tip David) is that Kanazawa is noted for gold leaf production.   Want to try your hand? For a price you can apply a sheet of gold leaf to a trinket and take home your handiwork. Or have a soft serve ice cream with a strip of edible gold…

Today calls for an “all layer” day for me. Inner to outer = turtleneck + blouse + light sweater + thinsulate jacket + rain jacket / wind breaker.  Grubb’s layers = long-sleeved tshirt + rain jacket. No surprise to anyone who knows him, he has two modes of dress: jacket on / jacket off.  Grubb…

When we left our Kyoto apartment this morning, it was drizzling and we felt too lazy to navigate the subway to get to Kyoto Station. I tried out Go Taxi. Worked like a champ.  Within 5 minutes, a taxi pulled up, the driver rolled down his window and asked for our order number. “007” I replied….

We are leaving Kyoto this morning, heading to Kanazawa so I thought I’d share some random last photos of Kyoto. Below: Upscale vending machines Hot sand or hot dog anyone? Below: Shop devoted to anime…or is that manga? Below: Kyoto streets Below: Our local supermarket Below: Snack break, egg toast and yuzu float Below: Okonomiyaki…

We’ve seen very few stop signs anywhere here. Drivers and cyclists keep to the left, pedestrians keep to the right. There are lots of small one lane roads – really just one lane shared by two way traffic. No stop signs or traffic lights at intersections on these small streets. Whoever gets to the intersection…

These two signs embedded in the sidewalk were right across the street from each other.

I was so enthralled with the Netsuke, I thought I’d add a few of my photos (be sure to read Grubb’s post first “Sculpture that fits into your hand”). A little more info

My navigation skills took a hit today. If there is one thing I am good at (just like Grubb prides himself on distinguishing sweets from soap) it’s being able to get us where we need to go.  Unfortunately today, instead of arriving at Byodo-in Temple expecting to see a fabulous Amida Buddha, carved gold phoenixes on the…

For something new and different, we attended the Miyako Odori yesterday at the Gion Kobu Kaburenjo (theater) in the famous Gion district of Kyoto.  The Miyako Odori is a performance, maybe one could call dance, or maybe stylized choreographed movements. A traditional spring occurrence, specifically April, every year since 1872. The very first performance was…

Did I mention Kyoto Prefecture (kind of like a state) gets 75 million visitors a year and 50 million of those come to the city of Kyoto.