October 8 - Wertheim

October 8

Last night after Aschaffenburg we had a lovely concert on board from a group called La Strada. It is a Belgian organization which has over 1000 young musicians in its organization. They hire students, with maximum age of 35, they must play stringed instruments.  They are hired out to venues as trios and they play a one-hour program of classical and semi-classical pieces.

Our trio consisted of a Chilean and Hungarian violinist and a Slovenian guitar player.  They were quite wonderful.  It is a great organization with each musician earning 100 euro/event, and they are doing on average 9000 events a year.  

Today after a leisurely boat ride through the fall colours of the Main, we arrived in Wertheim, a typical German town of wood gabled shops, a market square and a castle and church.  Our guide was Renata Dietrich who had also guided our group thru Aschaffenburg.  Wertheim, being on the confluence of the Main and the Tauber rivers is flooded almost every year and many of the buildings, like in Venice, show the high water marks where the water had reached. We toured the town where a Christmas market was in full-swing,  had a pastry, and then crossed the Main to visit the other side and to learn about wine-making and pretzel making.  The vineyard, Alte Grafshaft, is  fairly new and proud of its success winning with Gault Millau for their Riesling and Pinot. It was lovely wine, and we each tasted three different wines.  This was intermixed by a very amusing demonstration of pretzel making from a small company named Frischmuth who have made pretzels for generations upon generations. We learned that the magic was that they dip the pretzels quickly into an alkaline solution before baking, but then the heat burns off the lye.  (The story being that a pretzel once fell into the washer woman’s pail of cleaning water, and the pretzel was such a success that they made this part of the process).  They were awfully good.

It was amazing how a sunny, warm day made everyone in high spirits.  We returned to the ship and followed our usual routine:  shower, cocktail, announcement about next day activities, dinner and bed.

The food on board continues to impress me – high quality, beautifully served, flowing wines which are excellent, and staff that seem to want to bend over backwards to make everything perfect.  I am very impressed by Uniworld which is truly upscale, and service-oriented. Every day there are activities for the active-minded including 4 hour bike rides, hikes etc., and accommodation for the immobile with taxis, walking sticks, and always one tour group based on inability to climb stairs or hills.

I think another thing that helps is the smaller number of passengers…. Who are all quite affable. I give that to the Aussies who are open, chatty and accommodating….and thank god, no Germans on board.

I would definitely do a Uniworld River Cruise again.

October 7. 2015 - River boat Cruise

OK,

So I kept losing my blog entries in the simpler word software app, so now I’m using Microsoft’s official one, and hopefully I wont have to type things three times to get one document to send

So we are liesurely floating down the Main at this point. We have something like 60  locks on this river many of which we passed through while sleeping.  Yesterday was a brisk and rainy day so Gay and I stayed on board rather than get out at Rudesheim to see a museum of automatic playing instruments.  Today we will get off at Aschaffenburg not to see the palace, but to take a nice walk along the waterfront.

Our fellow guests consist of 45 Aussies and about 47 Americans.. and a few stray Asians in between.  We have gotten to know a few couples well, and tend to join them at dinner time.

There are Ian and Rosemary from Australia – he loves to cook, she loves to help. They ran a B&B for 10 years, he worked to place the indigenous people of Australia into jobs at the mines, and she was a CEO of a company placing disabled people into work jobs.  They are a great deal of fun and food is our favorite topic.

Jerry and Sue are also Australian, he reminds me of Michael Lardner.  They ran a drapery business for years, but now play.

Linda & ??? – the newly weds from Merrimack New Hampshire are musicians.  She is a flutist who had a business publishing and selling sheet music for flutes.  He is a trombonist who was in the US Air Force reserves, and is an American Airlines pilot.  Great fun. They are in their early 60’s.

Linda & Phil Katz are from Scituit Mass. She has MS, he talks a lot. 

I am sure as days go on we’ll meet more, but I’m in no big hurry. During the days as we float down the river people are reading, playing cards, chatting, or staring at the changing landscape with town after town, barge after barge going by.

This ship continues to delight me with its intimate size, amazing service and fabulous food.  It is like being on a Star Clipper with a bit more space and more up-scale looks.

Crystal Symphony -- May 1 - 15

Thursday morning, May 1st, we were filled with excitement to be heading to a new cruise line, and a new ship - the Crystal Symphony. We loaded all our worldly (and getting oh so boring and repetitive) goods into a taxi, and headed to the cruise terminal where the ship and 500 of our new best friends awaited us.

For both of us this was a new ship and we were looking forward to exploring every deck, but before we could do this we had to wait on the Lido deck sipping Japanese beers while waiting for our rooms to ready. Right away we met the Crystal Cult. These are the people for whom Crystal is the ONLY way to cruise. They kept telling us that after the next 16 days we'd never go on another liner - ever. The service was impeccable, the staff engaging and the food amazing. And of course the free alcohol, and lack of tacked-on gratuities added to the splendor of it all. People were acknowledging each other, and bragging to each other as they proudly said how many Crystal cruises they had been on. It was like notches on the belt and we felt like the new kids on the block with no notches to speak of.

Here's what I'll say now, having been on board for two weeks: it is true the staff are engaging and their ability to know all our names after only a few interactions is a sign of good training; the food in the main dining room is good, and in the two specialty restaurants (Prego and Silk Road) it is terrific; the almost non-existent need to sign a chit for wine, beer, any cocktail of your choice, specialty coffees, or other amenities is delightful; the cabaret singer-pianist, Mark Farris, who plays in the intimate and dark lounge is delightful; the well-thought-out storage in our cabin is excellent (the bathroom design is the best of any ship we have been on),and the attentiveness of our room stewardess (Eldie) and our breakfast butler (Marvin) - is delightful.

But here's what I'll also say: our fellow passengers - all Crystal Aficionados are a distinctly aging population, with entirely too many walkers and oxygen issues; the entertainment (like Oceania) is well hyped but not great in execution; the stores as on all cruise ships are too expensive; the lecturers (most with a Fox News slant) are somewhat ho-hum; the ship's decor is early Italian rococo and boring; and the freedom of dining at will ("by reservation", as the liner proudly advertises) has not yet been successfully implemented. 

Considering that this is a luxury level cruise line with a clientele who are not worried about the next recession, the whole thing somehow lacks real "class". The surface of elegant dress, and plenty of white linen is there, but it just doesn't compare to the QM2 where the decor, the lectures, the clientele and the ambience reek of true class.

We may be jaded, or we may simply be ready to be home, but we have not yet joined the Crystal Cult. Long and leisurely days at sea are delightful as we stare at endlessly blue waters uninterrupted by other ships; late morning coffee in our cabin is relaxing as we once more advance our clocks and cross the International Date Line and watch CNN on our TV; stopping by The Bistro for a cappuccino, or eating sushi in Silk Road is appealing; and the pure pleasure of having someone serve whatever food whim comes into your head does have its charms (not to mention no cooking duties) but I think we will return to this cruise line based purely on itinerary - and NOT because it is the ONLY way to cruise.

But having completed my rant, I will acknowledge that our one port of call - Honolulu - after ten days at sea was a pure delight. None of the tours caught our interest since we both know this city fairly well, and have visited the Arizona Memorial site more than a few times. But in this city lives a fellow alumni of University High School in Ann Arbor, class of 1962. His name is David Bailey and he is the owner of the Aloha Shirt Store - an amazing emporium of over 15,000 new and used, historic and colorful, Hawaiian shirts. David himself has led a most storied life with which he is only too ready to regale you. From getting arrested in Russia during the Fisher/Spasky chess match; hitch-hiking across Afghanistan and Iran; selling forged student passes to fellow travelers; teaching English in small villages while living in Buddhist temples; almost winning gliding competitions in Switzerland and almost losing his life when his glider crashed....it was one tale after the other. Somewhere along the road of adventures, having dropped out of numerous institutions of higher learning, David found himself starting this crazy shirt business. And now, 25 years later, he has clientele like Anthony Bourdain, Jimmy Buffett and Nicholas Cage, to mention a few who are walking advertisements for his unique product. His shirts can range from $5000.00 to $ 5.00 and it is hard for us novices to know exactly what makes this range possible. But Bob and I were totally engaged by our two+ hour visit to this wacky place where we purchased some wonderful shirts for summertime wear. And I would tell anyone to stop by - not only because the owner is a wonderful long white-haired, pony-tailed gentle raconteur, but because no where else will the eyes be so wonderfully assaulted by color and design in a store where shirts were crammed into racks, piled in three foot towers on the floor, hanging from the rafters (the high priced goods) and stuck in every nook and cranny. David has cornered this market and while organization seemed lacking, and on-line marketing seemed impossible, it was a pure delight to catch up with someone whom I hadn't seen since 1962 and whose life certainly took a unique and different path.

This visit made our day and to top it off before returning to our ship we sat, for old times sake at the outside bar of the Royal Hawaiian (aka the Pink Palace) and had pina coladas and hamburgers as we watched an infinite variety of people strolling the beaches in front of Waikiki enjoying warm water, sunshine and the laid back world of Honolulu.

And now, as the days count down and the hours advance nightly, our minds turn towards home both with happy anticipation and only a little bit of sadness that this last leg of our Journey is coming to an end.

Last Days in Japan - April 25-30

For those who have been following this blog for the last six years, this is pretty much the last travel entry, just as it was for the boys. They were starting across the Pacific and knew that their last letters would only reach their parents at home long after they had already been welcomed back to Germany. And for us, eighty-five years later things haven't changed much. This is our last blog entry since internet service on the ship when one is mid-ocean is as unreliable as traditional mail was in 1928.

Our last days in Tokyo were filled with new discoveries. Having arrived on a busy Friday right before Golden Week, we found the city filled with Japanese tourists. Golden Week is a series of days starting with the Emperor's birthday and ending with Children's Day (renamed from Boy's Day - when one praised the young men of the family but which is now a very non-PC concept and has thus been re-named). The days in between are a series of 'made up' holidays to force Japanese to take time off from work. It is considered by the government important that workers take time off and so they glued together a week of 'holidays' to encourage families to go out and enjoy the country. For us this was reflected in higher rates at our hotel and crowds everywhere. To join in this melee, Narumi and I went shopping for a gift for Joe: an official cotton kimono or yukata. Of course there are official places to buy these 'robes' along with the obi and other accouterments associated. We went to the men's Kimono shop and then went to a different store in the mall which was the women's Kimono shop to pay our invoice. The whole process of how to wrap the kimono, how to tie the obi, how to place the fan all were part of our learning experience. I made only one faux pas which was to step onto the carpet in front of the mirror (where I wanted to try on the kimono) with my shoes on! Everyone jumped and quickly pulled me off this small green carpet as if I had stepped in front of an on-rushing car. One just plan doesn't soil the carpet in front of the mirror with your street shoes! Ah yes, cleanliness is truly the word to describe this country.

It is amazing. There is practically no litter in a city larger in population than New York City. The streets are immaculate as are all train stations, train platforms, bathrooms, all taxi cars, all stores. To find a wastepaper basket on the street is almost impossible. There are plenty of recycling containers for plastic, but practically none for paper. Like a good doobie, at the end of any day I would un-load all pockets and purses of stray paper wrappers, tissues, ticket stubs, you name it. And of course there are the moist hand towels one receives at the start of any meal and which are left with your table setting until you depart to ensure that your hands are always clean. (Bob and I are trying to figure out how we can keep this concept going in Peacham Vermont).

Narumi and I went on to visit a shrine in the northern part of Tokyo where I wanted to purchase a unique omamori (good luck charm associated with a particular wish you hope will be acknowledged by the gods of that shrine). Then back to the hotel through a maze of subway lines which reminded me of the London Tube where one walks miles below ground to get between different lines. It is so much easier in Tokyo when following someone who actually can read the signs and knows where she's going. Between the crowds of shoppers, crowds in the metro, and crowds in the shrine, one knew it was Golden Week. Our last stop was a return to our favorite sushi restaurant where we collected a nice tower of plates before calling it quits.

To continue following in the footsteps of the boys, our next adventure was a day-long bus tour of Kamakura and Yokohama. We met our 11 other English-speaking tourists and hopped on our bus with Emiko, an entusiastic, energetic tour guide who regaled us with tales as we drove south along Tokyo Bay to our first destination of the day - Hasadera Temple in Kamakura. While the goal was to see the eleven-headed statue of Hase Kannon (from which Canon camera takes its name), Bob and I being templed-out, chose instead to stroll through the gardens and to visit the Benten-kutsu Cave where a series of statues are carved out of the walls of the cave. The cave honors Benzaiten, a sea goddess, and the only female among the seven Lucky Gods of Japan. Her temples are always near water - and thus Kamakura. In the poorly lit path which one took through the cave, one was bent double since the height of the cave was less than four feet. Bob showing a certain intelligence, waited outside for me to return from the depths of hades.

Our next stop, made by the boys, was the Great Buddha or Daibatsu. It is the 2nd largest sitting buddha, only surpassed by the one on Lantau Island near Hong Kong. Along with the zillion Golden Week holiday revelers, and school children who use this week to 'attend' classes by going on school excursions, we took lots of pictures in the lovely warmth of a spring day before heading along the beachfront to our lunch in Yokohama. The problem with most such day tours, is that one must endure lunch which is usually mediocre at best, but which is part of the event. This, quite good, lunch was in Yokohama's Chinatown in a large hotel overlooking the harbor. Our interesting table companions were two young women from Colombia, who are on a Mitsubishi Training Program for three months near Nagoya. They admitted that they are learning little (if English is rarely spoken imagine how much Spanish your average Japanese would know). But an all-expense paid period in Japan was too good to turn down, and so they were taking advantage of everything they could do before returning to their 'real' jobs which awaited them back in South America.

Having finished our eight course Chinese-style/Japanese meal we continued on to tour Chinatown. The Chinese originally came to Japan and settled in the areas where foreigners were allowed to live when the country was opening up to the world at large. Because Chinese were adept at reading Kanji characters (though they could not speak Japanese), they acted as go-betweens to translate for both the Japanese and the westerners who were setting up trade. In the 1923 earthquake that devastated over 95% of Yokohama, many Chinese returned to Canton, then with the war between the two countries the Chinese population dwindled further. There are now less than 4,000 Chinese in Yokohama and the area is much like Chinatown in San Francisco or New York: narrow pedestrian streets lined with ticky-tacky gift shops selling Chinese artifacts and clothing, endless eating establishments, reflexologists ready to relax your body and palm readers scattered below endless 'Chinese' lanterns.

The last tourist site of the day was as beautiful as the first had been. This was the Sankeien Gardens, a 17 hectare (one hectare = 100 acres) plot once owned by a Yokohama Silk merchant who started its construction in 1902 and took 20 years to complete. There were inner gardens for Mr Sankei alone and the outer garden which he opened to the public. There are a series of buildings moved from other locations in Japan including a three-story pagoda and these are dotted throughout the gardens. It was a most restful place to look out on the man-made lake with gardens everywhere. Wisteria, azalea, iris and other plants I didn't know were everywhere. A lovely bride and groom in traditional outfits were being photographed at various spots in the garden, and they were tolerant enough at the end as we left the gardens to pose with some of our fellow bus-mates before going their separate way.... probably laughing at us westerners.

When walking in Chinatown, or the Sankeien gardens, or when looking out at the peaceful harbor, it is easy to forget that a mere 75 years ago we were at war, and that American air attacks were wiping out vast parts of this country - especially Yokohama - which was a critical port for the Japanese, and thus a prime target. Now one drives past the Yokohama Baseball Stadium, the harbor front with its ferris wheels and wind surfers and one can easily be lulled into forgetfulness. It is only the 'newness' which tells the story: Boring bland apartment complexes built in dull boxy shapes; individual houses all looking fairly modern built of stucco or siding; modern bridges spanning various waterways - all new. It is only in parts of Kyoto which was NOT bombed, that one can see the older Japan. But unlike some countries that never recovered after the war, Japan is now the 3rd largest economy in the world in less than 100 years, and the shogun, samurai, and warrior class is gone. It is amazing to think that this very nationalistic, isolationist country has transformed itself in an amazingly short period of time.

One of the things we had observed while dining in Yokohama, was that out in the harbor was a ocean liner that looked very much like the one on which the 'boys' had sailed on when they left Yokohama for Vancouver. We did some googling and found out that the ship was indeed a Japanese liner built in 1929, which crossed the pacific numerous times carrying passengers until it was converted to a hospital ship in 1941. We had to go. The chance to tour the inside of a ship of the period when the boys were having their adventures was almost the perfect ending to our own trip. So the next day, Bob and I took the train back down to Yokohama, walked past the baseball stadium where the Yokohama Baystars were playing to a full Golden Week crowd, and headed for the NYK Hikawa Maru, a 'tangible cultural property' as designated by the City of Yokohama. Here was a totally re-created 1930's era ship, which had been lovingly restored by the NYK shipping company to show the beautiful Art Deco original it once had been. We were able to imagine the boys as they sat in the first class dining saloon, slept in their first class cabin, walked the promenade deck, sat in the smoking room or went up to the bridge to join the captain. Compared to any liner we go on, this one held a total of 280 passengers and a crew of 80 chefs and god knows how many others. Its route was Yokohama to Vancouver, Seattle or San Francisco and many famous actors and actresses, including Charlie Chaplin sailed aboard this ship. It seems that every place we have been in Japan, Charlie Chaplin has been here first.

What a perfect ending. The only ship that comes close to representing this period was the Britannia, in Leith Scotland, and that was for royalty. This was just a normal liner that plied the Pacific Ocean serving people like the boys.

And so our "Journey of Discovery" is coming to a close. Tomorrow we board the Crystal Symphony, with our fellow 1000 passengers and 500 crew, wining and dining our way back to Honolulu, and Los Angeles.

And, one last entry on the blog will tell of our adventures when we return to Peacham in 16 days.

Miyanoshita - April 21-25

Unfortunately the pleasure of being in a mountainous area is that while the views can be breath-taking they can also disappear in mists of fog and rain, and this is what we experienced for the first days. Since the point of visiting here is to go out in nature and view Fuji while hiking, we like many of our fellow travelers spent a good deal of time around the hotel enjoying it's very funky old world charm. German kitsch music playing all day long in the lobby; dark wooden nooks and crannies where old photographs and maps told of the history of this museum; an old-fashioned spirit in all bars tea rooms, and restaurants; lovely ponds and gardens outside every window and memorabilia in every nook and cranny. Everyone who was anyone has stayed here at some point including the same people who went to the Nara hotel....Helen Keller, Charlie Chaplin, the emperor amongst many and Nehru, John & Yoko (with kids), and others who are honored here.

In the lower level (many levels since this whole complex is built into the side of a small mountain), along with the two natural mineral water spa pools full sized swimming pool, and the wedding section, was the history museum of the hotel which we looked at most carefully. It was here that we saw all the registers stored in a locked bookcase...so we knew we'd see those signatures.... which we did when I returned to the front desk. There it was - May 1928 - Herbert Meyer from Leipzig and Walter Maron from Dresden signed in for a visit to room 92 in the hotel. It was a real thrill to see their signatures there after 85 years... and Eerie. I took photographs to bring home as 'proof' of their existence and that was it -- almost the last bit of our re-creation completed with signatures to prove it all.

Our first two nights of our stay we were eating authentic Japanese food in an old inn which was once part of a shogun's estate. We left our shoes and umbrellas at the entrance and were led to a private tatami-matted room where a low table and low chairs were available for us westerners. Our waitress, a beautiful woman who spoke absolutely no English, led us through a series of courses - 10 in all - some outstanding, some not so much to our liking...but this was something we wanted, so we ate it all using our chopsticks correctly, our moist towel correctly (not for neck or head, only for fingers), and felt only slightly self-conscious, though we were the only ones in the room. After two+ hours of changing courses, changing plates, and changing tastes (all carefully documented on the IPhone), we bid our hostess good night and walked back in the rain to our room. The second night was pretty much a repeat of the first except that our lovely hostess had been a three--month exchange student in Seattle and had been to the theater in NYC (she loves singing, and broadway shows). She was more able to explain what we were eating, and how to eat it, and had this most amusing giggle of delight when she and Bob could talk about theater.  

We were supposed to eat Japanese again on the 3rd night, but realized that our love of Japanese cuisine is more that which we get in America: tempura, teppanyaki, sushi and sashimi. We were less enamored of the many tofu-based foods or the other very 'mushy', or 'jellied', foods which we were supposed to relish and to enjoy. So for our last two nights we ate in the French restaurant - or more correctly, the Japanese version of a 'French' restaurant. Here we were in a large cavernous banquet hall which lacked all the charm of our intimate first evenings but which was where the boys would have eaten, and where the apprentice waiters and waitresses could practice their new skills at serving western food. Here too, a set menu was provided as we sat down and in a two hour window we went through all the courses with our fellow Japanese travelers. When you don't have all those changing bowls, plates and steaming servers, plain old china seems almost boring, but the food (while not totally French) was very good.

On the one day that promised sunshine, we hired a touring taxi, and guide, to take us on a ride following what the boys had done in the fog. We drove up and around Lake Ashi with our 'english-speaking' guide whose English was like my Greek - some words, some comprehension, but risky if one went off the main conversation or blank stares are returned. It is the end of cherry blossom time, and the trees are just beginning to bud so we were able to get many views of the lake...but no Mt. Fuji. As we got to the look-out point, and it started to rain again in earnest, our guide with a chuckle pointed to where we should see the famed mountain, and we imagined how splendid it must be since absolutely nothing was to be seen. We stopped at a series of tourist spots - where the cable car began, where the cog railway began, where steam was rising out of volcanic escape holes, and where the lake boat cruises began. This was exactly the same as any tourist mecca in any country: ticket windows, food kiosks, and a million snapping cameras. (We commented on the fact that this reminded us of Lake Como which led us to acknowledge that when traveling, one always finds a reference to sites one has visited in the past, which means that Japanese visiting Lake Como probably think of Lake Ashi.)

The two highlights beyond the lovely landscapes and the non-view of Mt. Fuji were: our stop at a Shinto shrine, supposedly favored by the current emperor, where we dropped a coin, made a wish, bowed, clapped and hoped it would all come true; and a stop at the Meissen Museum. What's the chance that in the mountains of Japan in a small nondescript town, there would be a museum to German porcelain. It was surreal. Here we were recreating the trip of two German boys who ate off of Meissen everyday of their lives and who had come to this remote part of Japan...and here was this museum. Of course we had to stop and I went in to chat with the proprietress - in German! The questions which rise up in the brain are why here, why Meissen, why in Japan. I took their brochure and hoped that some translation work by friends in Tokyo may solve this. But it was a great book-end to the whole trip since we depart the next day back to Tokyo for only a few days before boarding our ship back to America.

This stop was somewhat of a 'bust' because the weather refused to cooperate, but in terms of sensing that we were on the boy's trip it was probably one of the highlights: the same hotel, looking the same; the same geography pretty much unchanged; the names in the register and the Meissen museum....a great wrap-up to what has been a wonderful series of journeys of discovery.

Kyoto to Miyanoshita

Maybe it's turning 70, maybe it's Japan, maybe it's just too much time, but for the last days in Kyoto we were just templed-out. We both knew this would probably be our first and last time in Japan, but visiting another shrine, taking off our shoes, walking around on tatami mats just didn't hold much charm. So we stuck to the outside - the gardens, the bird sanctuary behind our hotel, and lastly a bit of retail therapy.

Our hotel, perhaps a bit out of the mainstream, had the advantage of backing up to a large nature sanctuary and preserve which we explored with pleasure on an overcast day. Then down to the main train station to visit the Isetan Department Store, an ultra-modern 14 level extravaganza. I had no intentions of buying anything, but find that department stores in foreign countries can reflect the things peculiar to that country. At Isetan it was the large display of small towel-ettes (size of a handkerchief) sold on the 1st floor, 8th floor and 11th floor. Why? Because in Japanese public bathrooms, while the toilets are 21st century, and the water dispenses at the wave of a hand, towels are just not 'in'. Instead every man, woman and child carries small towel-ettes with which one dries one hands. If one stands outside any such facility, you see people exiting while carefully folding their towel back into their pocket or purse for the next time. And thus, a popular department store category. And then,of course, all things Kitty were available. (I don't get this whole fad, but then, I'm not Japanese.) But it was the Kimono floor that delighted me most. Here one can buy beautiful fabric to create your own kimono, all manner of obi and clasps laid out with reverence. This is Kyoto afterall where geisha's in their beautiful dresses are a sight to behold. Of course I had to look at the kitchenwares, most of which appeared to be from everywhere but Japan. It would appear that the Japanese shopper, like ourselves, like all things made outside their country. Of course there were all manner of rice cookers, 'standing rice' servers (a paddle like object), and a vast variety of tea accouterments. I love department stores.

Our last days we focused on fine meals with two true standouts. A tempura restaurant called Tempura Endo Yasaka was fabulous. We sat at the counter similar to a sushi restaurant, but behind the counter was the chef putting all manner of fish and vegetables dipped in ethereal light batter into a huge vat of fat. We had a set meal of ten items and with each new thing, the chef or assistant would explain that we were to use salts (green tea salt or sea salt) or sauce. Each course was served on a unique small plate and provided with a very careful description by the chef. We were surrounded by Japanese who watched us as much as we were watching them. Thank god we're skilled chopstick users...it could have been a major embarrassment otherwise.

For my birthday dinner we went to a kobe restaurant which was one of the most romantic sites. It is an unassuming entrance as we walked down a narrow lane to the entry, but once inside, we were led to a window table where we could look out on a stream, and behind that a pedestrian walkway with people staring in at us as we stared out at them. It was an early reservation which allowed us to see everything in daylight before it became dark and lovey lights lit the last of the cherry blossoms, the stream and the walkway. In the background music like that of Bill Charlap was playing. The meal was served in a leisurely, and seemingly endless set of plates: Shrimp, onion soup, salmon & pork, sea bass, warm pate with pineapple, THE steak, and for desert cherry blossom cheese cake. Our concierge had given the restaurant a 'heads-up' about my birthday so that with our desert there was a lovely piece of chocolate with gold writing saying 'happy birthday', and a single small candle. A nice touch to end an absolutely fabulous dinner where with every bite we were grinning. So turning 70 wasn't all that hard, and certainly was a bit exotic.

But now it was time to once more pack our bags to ship them ahead to Miyanoshita. We were less confident of the success of this venture since the clerk responsible for this had nominal English....but we believed in the system. (and it worked). Our train was another Shinkansen that made a few more stops than the one we'd taken from Tokyo, but basically went on the same tracks. Within two hours we found ourselves in rain-soaked Odowara where we re-confirmed our tickets for the return, and hopped in a taxi to our hotel.

Daddy described this exact same journey going on a rainy day through narrow twisty roads through a valley which would lead up a mountain to the resort town where we were staying. This area, known as Hakone is a huge national park and is very popular with Japanese tourists who come to hike, walk around the lakes, and take pictures of Mt. Fuji. The hotel greeted us warmly, and after we explained that 'the boys' had stayed here 87+ years ago, seemed to think they just might find the register signed by Walter and Herbert in 1928. I'm excited about that and will see what happens.

We had read on tripadvisor that this hotel was a step back in time....and that it is. Dark woods, big lounge chairs in a traditional sitting area; wooden staircases sweeping up to upper levels; dark corridors leading to a variety of rooms which looked untouched since the 30's. We were delighted with our old-fashioned room, finding our luggage waiting for us! Here we definitely sense that we are walking in the boy's shoes again. They would recognize everything but the televisions and the modern bathrooms. Our room has a hot spring shower and bath so we can conquer neuritis, neuralgia, arthritis, stomach upset and anything else that might ail us over the next four days. (Or so the sign above the bath promises).

Kyoto - Part 3 - April 17

Thursday we started our last day with Matsui-san, and while he had planned that we would replicate Daddy's trip by taking a funicular up to the top of a small 'mountain'.... the smog lay over the city (Kyoto, being surrounded by mountains, gets many days with less than clear skies) and we saw that there would be no splendid vistas at the top. Instead, we re-arranged our day and started at the Ginkakuji Temple (also known as the Silver Palace) to give the smog a chance to burn off.

The Silver Palace was built by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa who designed it as his retirement villa. He carefully laid out beautiful gardens - from stone, sand and water, built mossy floored woods, long walkways with beautiful shrubs, and paths that led up to viewing spots, and then down to garden areas.

He retreated to this place of calm and beauty, becoming himself a zen buddhist monk. He stated that his villa should remain a zen retreat and so it did. It is called the Silver Palace - to contrast with the Golden Pavilion Temple - another zen buddhist temple in Kyoto built about the same time. 

Yoshimasa initially planned to cover the building with silver foil - thus its name. However, this never was accomplished, and rather one enjoys the reflected light from the silica in the sand gardens, and from the alum-based lacquer used to cover the buildings, which reflects in the sun (a bit). (Actually, It is more a series of brown buildings with white accents looking out on superb gardens.)

Our approach to the temple area was up a gentle incline past shops, many students from a nearby university, and shop keepers. We were fairly early, so crowds had not gathered. We walked through as much of the buildings as we could (though Daddy had seen more of the inside structure), but then, as always we wanted to enjoy the gardens... and leave our shoes on. At every turn or resting spot in this beautifully thought-out retreat, there was something to appreciate: the placement of stones, the raked sand design-work, trees with gnarly trunks, views of the buildings which seemed to float above the trees; and of course....cherry blossoms.

At this point it was as sunny as it was going to get, so while the funicular didn't strike us as a requirement, we did want to see the famous buddhist monastery at the top. So once more we hopped into our trusty Toyota Crown Saloon car and were driven up twisty, narrow roads until we reached the top of the holy mountain - Mt. Hiei. Here there is an enormous world-renowned buddhist complex made up of three unique areas. We were to visit parts of the main one. This monastery complex was the first outpost of the Tendai sect of buddhism built in 700, and while it was razed, warrior buddhists fought for it and to this day it continues as a buddhist sanctuary. As we walked up another incline to the main 'lecture' hall, there were a series of illustrated 'billboards' telling the long history of the monastery. One of the more amazing things we learned was that various monks nicknamed the Marathon Monks have walked around this mountain for a 1000 days of meditation and prayer - with the most recent monk having walked 26 miles a day, jn clusters of over 200 consecutive days - accomplishing the same feat as walking around the Earth.

As we approached one of the buildings, there was a conclave of Zen buddhist monks leaving the building, and posing like a class picture in front of the building. We took pictures (discreetly), and learned that they were honoring a particular monk of 800 years ago. As they descended en masse to the main hall in the complex, we followed behind them until we arrived at the same building where were laid out all their white 'flip flops'. We too took off our shoes, and went in and walked along the viewing gallery looking inside to the buddhist main sanctuary below. Then we climbed back up to where we had started, and went back to our car. I'm sure that it would have helped had we known more about this area...and probably all our buddhist friends will wonder how we couldn't know about this place....but there you have it.

This complex, like others had a HUGE bronze bell, but unlike 'big daddy' in downtown Kyoto, this one was a bit smaller and for a small donation we mortals were able to strike the bell with the huge 'battering ram' piece of wood. But it is to be struck only once... not a minor feat when swinging a very heavy piece of wood which when it gains momentum, wants to hit its mark more than once. I captured a great photograph of Bob and Matsui-san stopping the ram from striking a second time, and Bob reported that it was no mean feat just to swing it once.

Having gotten more than our fair share of exercise walking up, down, and all around, we bid Matusi-san a fond farewell and returned to the hotel to rest. From now on we are on our own in Kyoto with places to explore, restaurants to enjoy and stores to be examined. But first we will take a quiet day of doing nothing to recoup both our minds and our bodies which have been very busy for the last four.