Another Sunday spent exploring a nearby town with 3 Japanese tour guides! Three ladies from work wanted to introduce me to Inuyama. It was about a 30 minute train ride from Nagoya.
This guy reminds me of a Japanese version of Curious George!
Kerri poses with a demon!
We have arrived at "Momotaro Shrine". We decided to call this guy "Peach Boy" because legend has it he was found inside a giant peach. "Momo" means peach, and "Taro" is a common boys name.
Even the caves are small in Japan! The girls I was with could bend over and walk through this thing, but I got stuck!!
Peach Boy recruited these strange animals to fight demons with him! I must warn you this story is a fairy tale and quite strange!!
The story of Peach Boy. (If you're still curious, google "Momotaro in Inuyama".)
New friends: Yuko, Kaori, Akiko, and Kerri.
Monkeying around (while waiting for the shuttle bus) with Yuko, Kerri, Kaori, and Akiko.
Next stop is Inuyama Temple. Here is the map with plenty of stairs!!
The climb begins!
Akiko stops to admire the 7 Japanese Gods featured on this rotating ball.
At the temple, I ring the giant bell and make a wish. (Perhaps I should wish that next weekend's adventure has fewer stairs...)
The amusement park in the distance is called "Japan Monkey Park" and features rides as well as several species of monkeys.
Many people were walking to these various touristy places, but we (thankfully) we taking a free shuttle bus!
This meal was like my very own "Fear Factor". This fish meal came highly recommended, and I always take the locals advice. First, we had to pick the bones out of our fish. I felt like I was doing a dissection in Biology class. I decided to pick out a few organs, too, and leave the head and tail on my plate. Next, I put the edible pieces and parts back in my personal hot pot and stir it up with rice and gobo (a Japanese vegetable). The gobo was pretty slimy and gross. I was afraid to ask exactly what it was until after my meal. There was no way I would have guessed it was a vegetable. I was thinking maybe eel. The other scary part was this pickled plum they wanted me to try. Yikes!!! So super sour. I had to spit out the pit and was tempted to spit out the whole thing... but I didn't!
Yuko, Kerri, & Akiko ready for the main event: Inuyama Castle!
This is the oldest standing castle in Japan, built in 1537. They even had a brochure in English, so I learned all sorts of fun facts!
View from the balcony of the castle.
Breathtaking scenery.
But super windy and cold when you're outside and up that high.
I love all of the intricate details of it's construction, even from 1537!!
This meal was like my very own "Fear Factor". This fish meal came highly recommended, and I always take the locals advice. First, we had to pick the bones out of our fish. I felt like I was doing a dissection in Biology class. I decided to pick out a few organs, too, and leave the head and tail on my plate. Next, I put the edible pieces and parts back in my personal hot pot and stir it up with rice and gobo (a Japanese vegetable). The gobo was pretty slimy and gross. I was afraid to ask exactly what it was until after my meal. There was no way I would have guessed it was a vegetable. I was thinking maybe eel. The other scary part was this pickled plum they wanted me to try. Yikes!!! So super sour. I had to spit out the pit and was tempted to spit out the whole thing... but I didn't!
Yuko, Kerri, & Akiko ready for the main event: Inuyama Castle!
This is the oldest standing castle in Japan, built in 1537. They even had a brochure in English, so I learned all sorts of fun facts!
View from the balcony of the castle.
Breathtaking scenery.
But super windy and cold when you're outside and up that high.
I love all of the intricate details of it's construction, even from 1537!!
No comments:
Post a Comment