Wednesday began with breakfast with these plates for Suzanne
including the usual French fries along with fish and salad
that she began to eat
and this was my plate
and my vegetable juice
and the packaged seaweed
before we went back for a second round
and bad tasting custard
with fruit
and rice with pickled plums
as I observed the buffet line
and took photos of Suzanne
and myself
before we began the day by walking past the Kyoto Tower
and over to the river
where we couldn't decide if these people were removing the debris or fishing but some might say there is no difference
as the train passed
and I recorded another license plate
and the sidewalk pattern
and the view down to the river
as Suzanne followed me
on our path to the shrine
and the store that had some Mickey Mouse things
before we reached the shrine Sanjûsan-gen Dô which was one of the more remarkable places we visited
but first I recorded the street sign
and the visiting hours
as we looked at the expanse of the building (there used to be an archery competition where arrows were fired the length of the building)
and then made our way in
through the visitor's entrance
as this group assembled
and we admired the doors before entering. This shrine was one of the most remarkable things we saw on our trip but unfortunately they would not allow any photographs of the 1000 statues each having 1000 arms (it takes some creative counting to get to the 1000 hands because you have to realize that one hand can do the work of 25, but the count of statues seems honest to me).
On exiting the museum, we explored the other buildings and the gardens where photography was allowed
and took a flower picture
which came into better focus
and then the berries
and another long building in the vermilion we'd come to love with pillars
and doors
as Suzanne posed
and then I noted that I couldn't photograph
but could take this photo of the next building
and this of the supported tree
not to mention the reflection in the pond
and the shrine
with the bell to ring
except that it wasn't permitted to ring it
and so we took a few more photos of the overall structure
and the Inari Shrine which was going to bring us good luck
as Suzanne emulated the prayer experience
at this shrine
and then I did the same
and then we walked along the building
to their exhibit of luck charms each with its own purpose
as you can see here.
ON our way back to the hotel, we passed this interesting sign at a storefront
and then a Japanese Circle K
and this man holding a menu
before we recorded this subway stop
and the man doing something in the river
as we passed another small shrine
by the first water we'd seen that had objects floating in it including this piece of fruit
and then after the gas station photos
and McDonald's photo
we were back at the station and ready to check out of our hotel.
Later, we came back to Track 4 to catch the 12:33 train to Tokyo
and watched a bullet train come in on the next track
as we lined up for our car
and noted what other trains were scheduled
as our train approached
and we boarded
with our snacks
and sandwiches
and the other snack
with our tickets visible for the conductor though we had to use them to get out of the station at Tokyo (except for my odd Kyoto experience where I essentially jumped the turnstile)
and so we proceeded until we got to Tokyo and the Hotel Villa Fontaine where we settled, had a little rest and then headed out to dinner taking photos of landmarks along the way so that we could find our way back
and so this was the first sign on the elevated walkway that took us more than half the way to the Ginza district
and these were the neighboring buildings
and the traffic scene of Tokyo on many levels since they need to build vertically here for both commercial venues and people's transit.
As we headed towards the Ginza, there was another obligatory phone booth picture
and these street scenes
before we saw these interesting windows and so did a bit of shopping.
Next, we landed in a tapas bar where this was the menu
as Suzanne had sangria
and I had a high ball
before we chose some foods
and so they took a photo of the two of us saying kanpai
as more food came
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before we headed back in the direction of our hotel and found a restaurant on the 47th floor of an adjoining building that gave us a tablet based menu in English
and remarkable views of the city.
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including the usual French fries along with fish and salad
that she began to eat
and this was my plate
and my vegetable juice
and the packaged seaweed
before we went back for a second round
and bad tasting custard
with fruit
and rice with pickled plums
as I observed the buffet line
and took photos of Suzanne
and myself
before we began the day by walking past the Kyoto Tower
and over to the river
where we couldn't decide if these people were removing the debris or fishing but some might say there is no difference
as the train passed
and I recorded another license plate
and the sidewalk pattern
and the view down to the river
as Suzanne followed me
on our path to the shrine
and the store that had some Mickey Mouse things
before we reached the shrine Sanjûsan-gen Dô which was one of the more remarkable places we visited
but first I recorded the street sign
and the visiting hours
as we looked at the expanse of the building (there used to be an archery competition where arrows were fired the length of the building)
and then made our way in
through the visitor's entrance
as this group assembled
and we admired the doors before entering. This shrine was one of the most remarkable things we saw on our trip but unfortunately they would not allow any photographs of the 1000 statues each having 1000 arms (it takes some creative counting to get to the 1000 hands because you have to realize that one hand can do the work of 25, but the count of statues seems honest to me).
On exiting the museum, we explored the other buildings and the gardens where photography was allowed
and took a flower picture
which came into better focus
and then the berries
and another long building in the vermilion we'd come to love with pillars
and doors
as Suzanne posed
and then I noted that I couldn't photograph
but could take this photo of the next building
and this of the supported tree
not to mention the reflection in the pond
and the shrine
with the bell to ring
except that it wasn't permitted to ring it
and so we took a few more photos of the overall structure
and the Inari Shrine which was going to bring us good luck
as Suzanne emulated the prayer experience
at this shrine
and then I did the same
