Day 5 in Kyoto

I had no idea that Lisa had saved the most spectacular sightseeing for the final day. We woke up and it was raining and cold and foggy. No big deal. we knew it was supposed to rain on Friday. By the time we left the apartment it was just barely raining and no wind. Got on the train and it was a 1.5 hour ride from Yamashina to Himeji. Himeji is the home of a magnificent castle in Japan - i believe the largest. Himeji was a more normal town the part we walked through from the train station to the castle grounds. Wide streets, not as many people on bikes, people more normally dressed. By this time, the rain was gone and the sun was in and out so we were really leading a charmed life because of the change in the weather in our favor.

Bought our tickets to tour the castle grounds and the adventure began. In my wildest imagination, i cannot see how a structure of this kind could have been built. I have seen other buildings (very old) in Europe that i have thought the same thing. I cannot even begin to describe the size of this castle and all its out buildings. And the fortification was unbelievable. Hopefully some of the pictures that Lisa took will give you a general idea of its size. We were allowed inside after we took our shoes off (and they provided us slippers to wear). We climbed 6 stories (very steep) of stairs to get to the top of the castle but the views of the city from there were amazing on our beautiful day. Everything that we could see inside the castle was made of wood sitting on what appeared to be a limestone or rock base. Quite a few artifacts were inside the castle for us to see of old tools, etc. found around the castle. An absolutely amazing structure.

Then we went next door to a series of beautiful gardens. I am sure these are spectacular in the spring when all the cherry blossom trees are blooming. Some were just starting to bloom and some were in full bloom at this garden as well as all sorts of small trees in pots on display of various kinds of cherry blossom trees. This garden area also contained a bamboo forest and various other types of trees, vegetation and lots of koi ponds and waterfalls. Just a very scenic area.

After these tours, we crossed the street and ate at a corny dog stand that lisa had previously tried and i have to admit it was probably the best corny dog i have ever eaten. I know, you come half way around the world to eat at a corny dog stand???

Back to the train and we rode into Kobe. The Chinese festival was going on so we made our way to that part of town (a short walk from the train station) and watched some of the live entertainment and walked up and down the area of China Town and bought some food from the vendors as well as fruit.

We also passed by the world's longest suspension bridge (photo shown in this blog but not very good - pretty foggy) that connects an island to this part of the mainland. Another unbelievable structure.

Made our way back to the train station and after riding a couple more trains and subways were home by about 7-7:30 PM but not before passing through an area of Kyoto on a Friday night where all the "weirdly dressed" folk were hanging out. In a society that you think is ultra conservative, you wonder why these young people are going in such a totally different direction with their hair, clothing, shoes, etc.

The end of the sightseeing has come and boy my feet and knees are "SO VERY THANKFUL"...

Tomorrow begins my long journey from Kyoto to Tokyo Narita Airport via the Nozomi Shinkansen (bullet train) connecting to the Narita Express. Flight to Los Angeles departs around 5:30 PM.

I will try and post in the Tokyo Airport to tell of my train trips.

here are a few photos to leave you with for today.