pics

There will be more to follow, but this is the starting point...

Nara, the dear run free and you can feed them. Conversely they get rather aggressive and nibble at anything. One even rammed me in the butt. I kicked it back.

Louis' friend from his mission, Toshi, and his wife Masayo took us out to lunch in Osaka.

Osaka castle wall

Osaka castle

Dragon water spout in Kyoto shrine. Used to cleanse hands before entering.

Kyoto Shrine, can't remember the name, but the pillars are the largest single piece wooden pillars in the world. Notice how small those people are in front of it?

Nijo Castle, Ninomaru Garden.

The Jomeimon gate of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The vermilion color is to scare/keep the evil spirits from entering.

Kyoto Imperial Palace. Okurumayose. This is the entrance used for official visits by coutiers.

Golden Pavilion, Rokuon-ji Temple. Yes that is two stories of Gold leaf. The first floor is in the palace style, the second the style of the samurai, and the third is a Zen temple style.

Shinkansen, or bullet train. gotta love the 430 am wake up call. Ugh.

Liam's blessing day.

Ice cream place in Hakone, the most flavors anywhere we have found, 32. Anything from banana, green tea, sweet potato, black sesame, coffee, pineapple, pecan, melon, hazelnut and cream, peach, strawberry, and a few others in between. Some bazaar, some normal, most of them pretty yummy.

Lake Ashi, and yes we rode the cool pirate ship!

Sulfur hot springs and thermal venting.

Dar rode a fun train ride once we were on the top of the mountai while I was changin Liam's bum. As you can tell, he loved it.

Hakone Gondola ride over the mountain

Kimono robes after soaking in the hot tub.

Hakone hot spring on the back porch of the Tatami room.