The Dr. has her plate full and The Mrs. is going bananas!
Hello my dear readers, I wanted to write you a quick post just to let you know I’m still alive and fine.
I’ve had two moles removed and they were in a very awkward position to be able to do things normally, so I had to put several things on hold.
Little by little I’m getting back to my normal routine.
As soon as I’ll be back to the office, I’ll follow up with my travel journal too!
Looking forward to be back!
I’m so happy I had the chance to try this sweet.
I’ve always seen taiyaki in anime and manga and one of my most pressing dreams was to try one.
I’ve asked everybody who went to Japan to bring one to me, but nobody managed. I understand only now why and I’m glad they didn’t as I probably wouldn’t have appreciate it.
Taiyaki are very good eaten on the spot as they’re warm and also soft. The anko filling burst into your mouth and it’s so sweet and good and you’d just keep eating it for ever.
I haven’t eaten everything I had in mind to try during this travel, but I’m very happy I had the chance to taste this.
Problem is that I’d love to have more, sometimes I have cravings, but I guess I’ll have to wait to go back to Japan to eat taiyaki again!
I’ll see you all next week, have a nice weekend.
Probably it’s just me, but while walking through the Imperial Park – yes, still there – I noticed this little house surrounded by trees and vegetation.
To be honest with you, the first reaction would be to go in and see what I’d find inside, only to discover that it was a public toilet.
I didn’t enter but I’m 99% sure that the inside would be as nice and neat as the outside.
My surprise comes from what I’ve always seen in Italy and sometimes even in Ireland.
Public places are dirty, full of graffiti and vandalized. The amount of litter scattered around is unbelievable.
Usually the ‘bad sort’ of people are hanging around there.
On the other hand, this place and many more I’ve encountered in Japan in parks and public spots, no matter how remote they could be, were always spotless and tidy.
I was moved to see such respect of shared spaces.
I’d love the rest of the world would learn from Japan and would apply these simple tasks that would make life easier everywhere.
What do you think? How’s in your country?
Let me know in the comments below.
I know, I know, but I warned you at the beginning of this week. This palace thread would be going on forever.
No, just kidding, I’m almost done!
When we left the inner gardens and the castle, we decided to reach out the entrance passing through the other side of the huge park.
It is indeed so big that, when we entered, we didn’t realize what was hidden inside the little bundle of trees on the side.
Passing by, we noticed this small temple. I looked at it and like an invisible thread was dragging me in, I went to visit.
There was a religious function going on. I think it was buddhist but I’m no expert, so pretty please let me know if I made a mistake. Once again all the medieval notions and images stored in my head went wild.
Also, please let me know if you come across the page and want me to remove the following video.
I’ll see you tomorrow with a consideration.
This collage doesn’t even start to make justice to this place.
For the entire visit I recalled, once again, my favorite book “Genji Monogatari” by Murasaki Shikibu.
I remember how Genji built the Rokujō estate for his four ladies and how each side of the place was facing a very detailed garden, ready to bloom at its best in a specific season.
I didn’t cry this time but I went dangerously close to it.
Said that, I don’t think there is nothing else to add.
Oh no yes, in case you have never read “Genji Monogatari”, please do! It’s worth it!
See you tomorrow.
Happy Monday, my dear readers.
As mentioned in my previous blog, I’ve planned several posts about the Imperial palace.
However, in order to avoid a week-full of it, I’ve decided to put in this post two different collages.
I’ve always seen the medieval Japan through literature and history, my imagination creating the most colorful and romantic images.
Despite my partner felt disappointed in not being able to get inside, I didn’t perceived it as a problem, because the images created by my head filled the gaps.
Although I felt butterflies in my stomach very often during this travel, this is the only occasion when I started crying, moved by the sight of something I’d only imagined so far.
All the sensations still alive in me, coming from the ‘Genji monogatari’, went live on their own accord; images I created in my head found a position in those empty corridor and portion of rooms visible from outside.
This was an unreal and kind of supernatural experience.
I wanted to stay longer but we had to visit more.
See you tomorrow for yet another bit.
Be warned, my dear readers, I’ll dedicate to the palace several posts.
I loved it so much, and I was the only one in our party in doing so, but I’ll explain you why in the next post.
For the moment please look at the images, aren’t they beautiful?
This was the park, or better, part of the park around the castle.
We entered from one side, but I can bet whatever you want that there were other entrances on the other sides as well.
When I set my foot past the entrance door I felt a pang into my stomach. It was magnificent and vast.
I was aware of how much small I were and I felt moved.
It took us a good 20 minutes from there to reach the entrance of the castle itself.
It was like a time travel! Even looking only at the park outside, in a dark corner of my brain some reminiscence of what I’ve studied and read about the medieval Japan started stirring.
I’ll leave you here for the moment, I’ll see you next week with the rest of the tale about the castle.
Happy weekend!
I love this picture and the quiet corner it portrays.
And quite frankly, it seems one of those average streets you see in many school anime, in particular with those lines on the ground that match the color of the flowers on the trees.
This was the third day, the last one we’d spent in Kyoto, and we concentrated on the centre of the city.
First stop of our program was the royal palace.
We decided to get there walking and I’m very glad we did it.
We could see a part of the less touristy Kyoto and some scenes from everyday life I was so eager to discover.
Maya stopped to almost every local park we encountered – it seems every area has its own. Also, we stopped at the 7eleven conbini for the first time.
Maya was the happiest as she found there the chicken croquette she ate for almost all our stay in Japan. Thankfully 7eleven conbini are everywhere in Japan!
And with this poetic image, I’ll see you tomorrow to show you the castle.
Honestly I could have uploaded just the picture and that’s it.
But it wouldn’t be fair.
The ones displayed in the photo are the two meals I picked the two nights at つち福 食堂.
The one my partner and Maya had are very similar, just a different protein in the plate, let’s put it this way.
The first night I had soba with prawn tenpura, while the second night I went with the mixed one.
Once you enter, you are served cold green tea and you are refilled through all the meal. I learned to appreciate it and I think I drank it in liters.
As mentioned in my previous post and as you can see, it seems a ton of food and heavy, but to be honest with you, I was just fine when I finished and I slept like a baby.
Follow me for the last post of the week tomorrow!
At the end of the second day and the day after, we went to eat dinner in a very nice place called つち福 食堂, which on the map of Kyoto can be found under Tsuchifuku Kawaramachi.
We actually discovered it not far from our listing and I wish we could have turned that way the night before as well.
The place was super comfortable and the staff so welcoming to bring tears to your eyes. If this isn’t enough to attract your curiosity, I’ll tell you that the food as well was super delicious. So good that it’s the number three in my top three meals I had during the whole holiday.
The staff speaks English and they have also English menu. But I felt so welcomed that I decided to dare with my Japanese and once again I was rewarded with smiles, kindness and help in learning new words. It was unreal, I’ve never though I could speak like that, not having used the language almost at all before then. I was surprised and happy and deeply moved.
The portions and the meals were abundant but not heavy, they were just right and the taste was heaven.
The reason why we were attracted, to be honest, it was the display of manga visible even from outside. You could actually read them while you were waiting for your dinner to be ready.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg, as you could read in this post.
So, do you want to see what I actually ate?
I’ll show you in my next post.
Dr.Franny and Mrs.Myself 