April 14th - Kobe, Japan

Sailed into Kobe this morning and took the Shinkansen Bullet Train to Kyoto, Japan’s former capital. Supposedly, one only has a minute to get on and a minute to get off the train before the doors close. Did a “practice run” by first getting on the wrong train. Since I was able to get on and off successfully before the doors closed, I knew I would be ready when I finally got on the correct train!

 

Visited Kiyomizu Temple built in the 17^th century, perched on a cliff overlooking the city. Kept looking for the waterfall that was a highlight here, and soon discovered that they really mean a place where there is falling water, they call any place that has a man-made or natural trickling of water a waterfall. This stream of water supposedly has special powers and can purify ones’ soul.

 

We got to see the first of many young girls dressed for the day in rented kimonos, while others chose to make their own fashion statement, got to see some very interesting outfits .Kyoto is known for its’ fabrics and beautiful kimonos – they also claim to have the most beautiful women in Japan.

 

Kyoto’s main industry is tourism and there were crowds where ever we went. In addition to the normal crowds, at this time of year school groups are taking their field trips, so students were everywhere. They all seemed to be having a great time, however,  I would not want to be a chaperon for one of these groups.  

 

The second temple visit was the Kinkaku-ji Temple, built in 1397.  The former villa of Shogun Ashikaka Yoshimasa is set on a lake and  the second and third stories are covered in gold foil.  The grounds were very nice.

 

Stopped at the Nishiki Market with all kinds of interesting food items for sale, some completely unknown to me. The students did not make it over to this stop – probably only of interest to those actually shopping and foreign tourists.

 

Before heading back to the ship, stopped at Heian Shrine, dedicated to Emperor Kammu, the founder of Kyoto, and to Emperor Komei, the last emperor in Kyoto.

 

Arriving back to the ship, topped off the evening sampling Asian street foods up on the lido deck, which had been magically transformed into an Asian street market. Never got around to sampling any Kobe beef.