shrine hopping

The early to bed decision we made was a wise one since we had lots of things to see on Tuesday. The hotel started us out with a traditional Japanese breakfast - we arrived in our robes and slippers and had a table to ourselves waiting with steamed rice, miso soup, squid sushi, and an array of some other interesting, unknown nibblets. We visited several shrines, including the Nijo Castle that housed the Tokugawa Shogun and Kinkakuji, which is a pavilion covered in real gold!We had a chance to peruse the tourist district and take in some incredible views. The sky was a bit cloudy, but the silver blanket overhead made for some beautiful pictures. Mike and I took in some traditional tastes, including green tea ice cream and traditional tea time at the golden palace. The tea tasted a bit like water and grass frothed together in a blender, but it's apparently an ancient art form influenced by Zen Buddhism - it was described to me as the female Japanese art form wherein knowledge of calligraphy, flower arranging, and the kimono are also required. Male Japanese art forms are more common to us and come in the form of Karate and Sumo Wrestling, amongst others. The tea was served with sweet desserts filled with bean paste, which tastes rather sweet - it was really interesting but got me excited for a piece of dark chocolate and a glass of red wine upon my return home.
The weather was surprisingly warm considering the time of the year. We returned to Nagoya that evening and were pretty beat. Nonetheless, some edemame and yellowtail kept us up until about 4am. With about 4 hours of sleep under my belt, I was escorted to the airport and returned on my 1:05 flight home with a bag full of treats for friends and family back home, as well as some Pocky sticks for munching on the flight (my favorite). The trip lasted about 12 hours and I unfortunately did not manage to sleep at all. Regardless, it gave me a lot of time to reflect on my week, which was incredible. I wish we'd had more time, but my month is obviously going to fly by with November looming just a few weeks away. I think I watched about 4 movies on the flight and finished the Kite Runner, not without a gorgeous peek at the sun rising up ahead as we made our way over Alaska. The sky was incredible and I had to get out of my seat to take a picture from the crew's emergency exit window to capture something that so many others were sleeping through! All in all, this was a decision I'm glad I made! I can't believe how quickly the time flew by between the day I gave my notice at McMaster and now, but experiencing Japan was something I will never regret.

It's off to NYC for me tomorrow...