Travel experiences across the world
I've been thwarted! Foiled! My grand idea for today was to go to Takayama, a well-preserved old town in the mountains. I'd researched beforehand that you can get there by train from Kanazawa via Toyama, but today when checking the timetables I saw that there are only like three trains a day between Toyama and… Continue reading The 21st Century Contemporary Art Museum, gold foil
After a big, hearty breakfast at the hotel, the first order of business today was to visit Kenroku-en, Kanazawa's most famous attraction and one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Its name means "Garden of the Six Attributes" because it has all six classical attributes that a garden is supposed to have in the… Continue reading Kenroku-en and Nagamachi
Although it rained heavily all throughout the night, by the time we left our apartment with our bags the morning was cloudy but dry. Today saw us on the road again, as we took a THUNDERBIRD train to Kanazawa. With such a bombastic name I had assumed it'd be a state-of-the-art shinkansen, but it's in… Continue reading Hiyashi Chaya-gai
Surprise day trip!So I was looking at the guidebook yesterday, planning what to do today, and I came to a realisation. There are a million things in Kyoto that I still haven't seen; between 2013 and this trip I've spent a combined eight days in this city and I still feel like I'm only scratching… Continue reading Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Sunny Sunday in Kyoto!Today I finally got to cross the one item on my 2013 Kyoto trip list that I never got to visit: Fushimi Inari, the famous shinto shrine in the south of Kyoto with thousands of bright red torii gates. Last time I left Fushimi Inari for the last day, but then I… Continue reading Fushimi Inari, Tofukuji
Today we were also treated to a gloriously sunny morning, so we decided to go on a day trip to Nara to make the most of the nice weather.There are JR trains going to Nara that you can board with your JR pass, but that line goes to the JR Nara station, which is rather… Continue reading Autumn in Nara
Sleeping on a futon over tatami is GLORIOUS. I don't know what it is about it that hits my "off" switch and instantly puts me in a deep and dreamless slumber. The alarm had to wake me up to a bright, sunny morning!Today's Friday, so I thought it might be wise to go to Kiyomizu-dera,… Continue reading Kiyomizu-dera and Kodai-ji
Today we left our apartment in Tokyo and took the shinkansen to Kyoto! It wasn't one of the really fast ones though, it felt like it had a lot of stops on the way...This time I managed to look out the window and see the scenery change. The landscape began very urban while we were… Continue reading Gion and Pontocho
Our last day in Tokyo! After walking up and down the city for about five days, two and a half hours sitting down tomorrow in the shinkansen sound pretty good right now!We decided to start the day with a good dose of culture and hopped on the Yamanote line to go to Ueno, on the… Continue reading Ueno and Shinjuku
There was nothing I wanted for today than to spend the day blissfully walking from one ancient temple with breathtaking landscapes to another, and that's exactly what I got! It was overcast and noticeably cooler than yesterday, but it was still very nice to walk around.We went to Tokyo Station and took the train there… Continue reading Temple-Hopping in Kamakura
This Is A Lake 