Today was a laid back day. We enjoyed breakfast of buckwheat pancakes filled with spinach, a salad made of tomatoes, jicama, cucumber and boiled potatoes, sticky rice, and tea. Then we packed up and said goodbye to our hosts. This ryokan was so fun and the hosts shared their life and how they came to Japan and rescued this 100 year old house that was going to be reposessed. We will do our best to get the word out about this wonderful place to stay! The kids exchanged music with the 16 year old employee and we were off.
We have so much stuff! When the travel sages say to pack half the stuff and twice the money you think you will need, they were talking about us. I brought too many books to read, Sherry brought too many snacks and Diane has it all together. We do appreciate that Meg brought her computer along which has helped us to keep in touch back home, check the weather every day and even allowed us to make our hotel reservations. Yesterday we decided to stay at this hotel another night and went to the front desk to let them know. They wanted to charge us $340 per room, their standard rate. We had booked at home for $138, so we went back to our room, hopped on the computer, and reserved the night for $150. Sherry and Diane are awesome travel agents!!
We are now in Kyoto and ready for 3 days of seeing temples and shrines. From our 11th floor window all we can see are office buildings and traffic. The mountains in the background are beautiful! Today we will stike out for a group of temples that look to be within walking distance(for us that means 2 or 3 miles). We will see the Imperial Palace this afternoon. Mindy still hopes to take us to an onsen(the famed naked bath) and Karaoke tonight. Tomorrow she will leave at 10 am to return home to school. She is not feeling well today. Guess we are too much for her. She said it's the unhealthy American snacks we are sharing with her that's making her sick. Blame it on Starbucks and Mr. Donut!!
Just a word about where we are. Our hotel is above the train station. It is connected to a mall that is 11 stories tall and is accessed by an escalator that is outdoors. Last night we saw people sitting at outdoor cafes when it was 45 degrees out. But, even though it Sunday night, the mall was packed and the streets were crazy. In Japan, people entertain and meet friends at the mall or restaurant rather than at their home, so the public places are always busy. Look for the pictures of the train station that we have taken. I guess you could say this is like the town square would have been in a small town from our history. Most people take public transportation so they pass through this huge train, bus, taxi station and mall sometime during their day.
OK, time to get out there and experience something worth writing about tomorrow. Hope you all have a great day and thanks for taking this journey with us. Peggy
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