drupagliassotti @ June 6, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 19 (Sunday): New photos at the album. Still on the hunt for a peaceful place to relax in Osaka, I decided to head down to the Osaka Bay, where I figured I’d catch the maritime museum and then find a place to rest beside the ocean or in the nearby bird sanctuary. This time [...]
drupagliassotti @ June 5, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 18 (Saturday): Taking it easy in Osaka is a challenge! This is a go-go city that seems designed to keep visitors on their feet at all times … at least, unless they’re willing to pay for a drink or meal in exchange for the privilege of sitting down. More photos added to the Osaka [...]
drupagliassotti @ June 4, 2010 # 2 Comments
Takarazuka Revue and fugu — what more can you ask for from a day in Osaka? Some new photos in the Osaka album, but none from the play — no photos are allowed during the performance, of course. I’ve linked below to a few YouTube videos, however…. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the [...]
drupagliassotti @ June 3, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 16 (Thursday): New photos in the Osaka album. Today the students and Akiko took off and I was on my own in Japan for the first time. A challenge! I dropped off my bag at the Super hotel and took off for the subway, only getting a little lost before finding my way to [...]
drupagliassotti @ June 1, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 14 (Tuesday): More photos added to Miyajima here, and a new album for Hiroshima here. We took the morning ferry back to Miyajima and rode the cablecar gondola, somewhat confusingly called a “Ropeway,” up Mt. Misen. It’s a two-cablecar ride, and those students afraid of heights were closing their eyes and listening to their [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 31, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 13 (Monday): Miyajima album here. One of the “three most scenic spots of Japan,” Miyajima’s Itsukushima Shinto Shrine is a World Cultural Heritage site and the Mt. Misen Primeval Forest a national treasure. (The other three spots, according to 1643 Confucian scholar Shunsai Hayashi, are Matsushima and Amanohashidate, just in case you were wondering.) [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 30, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 12 (Sunday): New photos added to the Kyoto album here. As is only fitting for a Sunday, today was the Day of Temples and Shrines. And, oddly, maiko — that is, geishas-in-training. We started out visiting Sanjyusangendo (Buddhist), an immense long hall famed for its 1,001 gold-painted statues of Kannon. I had flashbacks to [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 29, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 11 (Saturday): More new photos added here. I’ve often said I’ll try anything once, but when it came down to trying yakitori chicken ovaries for dinner, I decided that some things I’ll only try once with considerably more alcohol in me than I had. So, no chicken ovaries for dinner, and we also chose [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 28, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 10 (Friday): (More photos added to the Kyoto album here.) The emperor of Japan no longer lives in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, but visitors still need to make reservations and turn in a copy of their passport to see it. We went on the 10 a.m. tour. In 784, Emperor Kanmu moved the capital [...]
drupagliassotti @ May 27, 2010 # No Comment Yet
Day 9 (Thursday): Check out the photos here. Nara was fabulous; I took 200 photos, but I’ve limited the online gallery to just a handful of the most interesting. It’s an expensive trip from Kyoto to Nara — about $10 each way — but I’d certainly recommend it to visitors. The Nara park is extensive [...]