Konnichiwa

We're back from Japan.   I can describe our trip in one little word: AMAZING.   We did so many incredible things on the trip: visited 10 temples and shrines, had box seats at the sumo wrestling tournament, attended a geisha theatre performance, participated in a tea ceremony, were spectators for the Hollyhock festival/parade.   And, the sushi there was just melt-in-your mouth: we even had "breakfast" sushi at one of the restaurants in the complex next to the fish market.   I never thought I'd want to eat sushi at 7:45 am, but it honestly was heaven!!   I can't say enough about the people there - I actually had an older woman at the train station give me a present (a small charm) and both of our neighbors at the sumo tournament shared food with us (big wrapped rice crackers and ice cream sandwich sort of snack).   Seriously, the hospitality we were shown just blew me away.  . I also can't get over how clean Japan is - we actually witnessed someone vaccuuming the sidewalk in front of his shop one morning!!

And, I got my "Lost in Translation" fix by going to a lot of the sites in the movie: the Park Hyatt bar, the stepping stones at Heian Shrine, the crosswalk at Shibuya.   It was so cool to actually be at these places I've seen in one of my favorite films...

I'm still fighting jet lag a bit so I'll wrap this up for now, but let's just say I would recommend Japan to anyone.   There is so much history there, and it was so cool to go out of our "comfort" zone and try all these new foods and experiences.   I would go back in a heartbeat...