Rome-ing Minutes: Farewell Japan: Kyoto, Nara and Osaka

We took a train to Nara and quickly found the meeting place for the NaraWalk group tour. Luckily, the group was just the 2 of us! The guide brought us around Nara Park and showed us where to buy biscuits to feed the deer, which, like in Miyajima, just roam about the humans fearlessly. The deer were hungry and 2 very antlered fellows aggressively requested a snack so it got a little scary.

We visited the Kasuga shrine, traveling through the woods along the stone lantern lined pathway. We were incredibly fortunate to see both a newborn ceremony AND a wedding procession taking place at the shrine!

Afterwards, we went to Todaiji Temple, which was possibly my favorite Temple that we saw in Japan. It's an enormous structure on a wide lawn and inside is a massive bronze-covered buddha statue, which is a pretty awesome engineering accomplishment considering how long ago it was first built. The tour finished at the Kofukuji temple with it's 5 storied pagoda.

In the afternoon, we stopped in the Nara Visitor Center for a kimono photoshoot. We ended up having so much fun we stayed for a couple of hours shmoozing with the old Japanese man with incredible English. In our discussions, we learned about the Japanese elections and the Nara prefecture. We also tasted locally grown tomatoes and competed to move marbles using chopsticks (I won). Then, we walked around the old city, Naramachi.

On the older man's suggestions, we took the train to Osaka to see Dotonbori at night. We enjoyed an okonomiyaki dinner and then went up to the top of Abeno Harukas, Japan's recently tallest skyscraper, for incredible 360-degree sunset views of Osaka. We admired the evening views and then dark fell and the city transformed as all the city lights turned on. It was beautiful!

Afterwards, we made our way to Dotonbori, a Times Square-esque street but so much bigger and crazier, as is everything in Japan. We walked the streets in a state of shock and admiration. We stayed out late, enjoying the wacky vibe and then returned to Kyoto for bed.

In the morning, we returned to Osaka, stopping first in Kyoto at Sanjusangendo Temple, famous for 1001 statues of the 1000-armed Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The train to Osaka had major delays due to an accident. The announcements were made in Japanese and Google translate had trouble picking up the words of the announcement over the general clammer of the train so we just followed the crowds onto a rerouted local train and slowly made our way to Osaka. The hours of standing on the crowded trains did put a damper in our admiration of the trains. We eventually made it to Osaka Castle Park but the castle was closed by that time so we didn't go inside and and see the views from the top floor. Still, it was a very impressive and beautiful building.

We made our way back to Dotonbori to see it during daylight. There, we found an Israeli bar! We also sought and discovered well-priced ($28) shiatsu massages and found our zen. After weeks of non-stop moving, our bodies definitely appreciated the healing touch.

We woke up in Kyoto for our last morning in Japan. We went back to the Arashiyama neighborhood to visit the monkey park Iwatayama! First, was a steep 20 - 30 minute climb to the top of a hill. At the top were panoramic views of (cloud-covered) Kyoto and dozens of wild Macaque monkeys everywhere. To my delight, we fed and photographed the adorably playful monkeys. It was so much fun but eventually we had to leave the monkeys and descend the hill to catch our flight.

Goodbye Japan. Hello first class.