Voyage Junkie

A Return to Japan, 2015

2019-08-31T18:11:00.001-04:00

Several years ago we had the opportunity to take some good friends of ours, Bo and Liz, to Japan. I'm going to focus on the new things we did and then link to previous blog posts for reference to the things we repeated from our time living in Japan. The trip started out awesome and then kind of fell into a bad place for me and Matt, unfortunately. I chalk it up to our inability to tell Bo and Liz when we wanted to do something different from what they wanted to do, and Matt's desire to be a good guide in the country as he was the only fluent Japanese speaker. He felt a lot of responsibility and then got really tired and very stressed out, which in turn made me very stressed out. I say this not as a rebuke of our friends, who had no way to know how we were feeling since we didn't communicate, but as a gentle suggestion to anyone who travels with friends. Say how you feel and don't be passive aggressive about it. Own up to your limitations and ask for what you need. Your friendships will be better off and your travels will be more enjoyable.

We flew in and out of Tokyo for this trip. We arrived in 2015 and stayed over New Year's to leave in 2016. We first stayed at a great hotel, new to us since our time living there, called Hotel Hokke Club Asakusa. This chain is still around and we saw it in every city we visited. Later in our trip we changed to the Chisun line because we had enjoyed those hotels when we lived in Japan. However, we found the Chisun hotels to be sorely lacking in quality, having declined since we lived there, and wished we had stayed in Club Hokke hotels the entire time! Lesson learned.

The absolute highlight of our time in Tokyo, besides more time hanging out in Asakusa, was visiting the Ghibli Museum. It is a magical place, and very hard to get into. Luckily, at the time our friend Preston was still living in Japan, so he went to Lawson's and purchased us tickets the day they went on sale for our vacation month. We adored the museum inside and out, as well as the neighborhood in which it is located. Wandering the museum is like wandering inside a Ghibli film. There's hidden rooms and alcoves, displays of Miyazaki's artistic process, and generally a feeling of keeping the joy of childhood alive as an adult. Below is one photo of the grounds.

We were also finally able to visit Himeji castle. This is the last original castle I had not visited, because when we lived there it was closed for a major renovation project. Matt had briefly visited during a time he spent studying there in the summer of 2006, so he was due for a return trip. I was quite insistent on visiting the castle, and even though it took us a bit of time and was a bit of a detour from our other sights in Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe, I am still very glad I put my foot down.

This is a view of the castle upon our approach. It is a large structure, and I think the largest castle in Japan. It is comprised of 83 rooms, many of which we explored during our visit. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. Below are some photographs from our time in the castle: there's a lovely yuzu tree full of fruit, some of the inside architecture, and a view from the highest point where we were allowed to go.

Our time in Kobe and Nara was also lovely. They loved the tame deer, of course! We showed Bo and Liz Todai-ji, and the giant Buddha inside. I waited in line to see if I could slip through the pillar which has a hole in it the same size as the hole in the Buddha's nose. It is said that people who can fit through will be granted enlightenment in their next life. I was the only member of our party able to wiggle through, although I know that now I would not be able to fit after my pregnancy/loss journey. What does that mean? Have I lost my chance at enlightenment, or do I retain my pass from fitting at one time?

We also stayed at a ryokan up in the mountains near Kobe, in a little town called Arima. There's tons of these places up there all with their own onsen included in various ways. Plus we enjoyed a rickety train ride up into the mountains! I don't remember the specific place where we stayed. Matt and I are pretty sure it was the Arima Gyoen, which someone on Trip Advisor calls "a disappointing onsen" and they aren't far off. It was a fun and classic place to stay with minimal baths, but if we go back we would probably pick a different place. They did have some nice touches, like the yukata we are wearing in the picture to the left. They were neatly folded for each guest to wear to the baths.

In Kyoto, sadly many things were closed. Matt had warned us previously that traveling to this city over the winter holidays would result in a lot being closed. Some things we thought were worth visiting, like Fushimi Inari, our friends didn't want to see. Instead, Bo wanted to travel to see Nijo castle, which we already knew was closed for the holiday. What's more, we knew it was a short castle on a flat low piece of land that would not show above its walls, rendering the entire visit useless. This is where we should have communicated better and put our foot down: if Bo and Liz wanted to go there, that's fine, and we could have told them to make their own way as the adults they are. Then we could have done what we wanted to do. This would have set us up success for later in the trip when similar differences in opinions occurred, as when we were back in Tokyo and Liz wanted to shop for hours for baby things in a Ghibli store while Matt wanted to reconnect with Preston. Not cool, Liz, not cool. But also, learn to speak up for yourself, Matt.

We did get to show them Kiyomizu dera, however. I finally got my great picture of the main building since we visited while it was daylight this time. After a bit of wandering, I found the delectable gluten free treats I had fortuitously discovered on our last visit. We ate ourselves silly and bought a matcha cake for the road. I didn't record the name of the shop or its location and just spent a ton of time finding it by searching for the type of cake I got. The store is Honke Nishio Yatsuhashi Kiyomizu Store, and it sells the delectable treats yatsuhashi, as in the name. When you enter, it's a wide open space with lines and lines of samples next to each box of treats. I love the samples because you can taste the flavors before you buy and be sure you actually like them. Some people hate bean paste (I am not those people), and therefore these treats are not for them. I highly recommend visiting this store if you are going to Kiyomizu dera!

We spent New Year's in Yokohama, going to a cat cafe and searching for temples in which to ring in the new year. We found a tiny side street temple, but we were unable to find a large temple with a crowd and festival-like atmosphere like the one we enjoyed in Gifu. By this time in the trip Matt was worn out and touchy, and I was getting there too. Bo and Liz lived their dream of ringing in a new year in Japan, and we were super grouchy. It's sad that we missed the chance to be happy at this time, and I hope that we've learned a lot in the past four years so if given another opportunity we would make better decisions. We'd definitely choose to stay further on in Tokyo for New Year's, and do some research into good places to celebrate, as Yokohama definitely disappointed in that regard. Plus, being honest about what you need would be a good call. Because we were so out of it and upset, I accidentally packed a great apple jam that Preston had given Matt from a trip to Hokkaido in our carry-on instead of our checked bag, and it was confiscated at the airport for being just a bit over the weight requirements. That was my final straw, and I spent a good bit of the trip home in tears because everything had just gone so wrong in the back half of the vacation. I'm also not very forgiving of myself when I make a mistake.

Later, once we had been home for a little bit, Bo and Liz sent a surprise gift to us. It was the apple jam that Preston had given them. They wrote us such a lovely note, that included this sentiment: "Thank you for giving us the gift of Japan. It is a gift we fear we will never fully be able to repay." I'm sure they don't realize, but by giving us the gift of forgiveness and grace, they repaid us tenfold.

Germany, 2018: Nuremberg

2019-08-29T16:29:00.001-04:00

The final day trip we took was to Nuremberg. It was a pretty quick trip from Munich, and it was good we'd saved it for last, as we had tired ourselves out with the long trips to Berlin and Heidelberg. Nuremberg is a smaller, solid city. It's downright normal and charming, while also being very much a city. It's like Cincinnati in that way. We spent a leisurely day walking the cobbled streets, checking out the famous market space, wandering the castle grounds, and of course eating lunch at a delightful restaurant.

This is a view of the city skyline from a garden at the castle. We didn't spend a lot of time in the castle because much of it is rented out much like Burghausen. Also to go deeply into the castle requires money, and we spent this trip more in search of free experiences. Below, the top image shows the outdoor market, and the bottom image shows some of the architecture over a canal downtown.

Matt was really excited to get this photo of Albrecht Durer's house. This is a famous artist known for woodcuts and watercolors among much else. Matt's brother is an artist and was greatly influenced by Durer's work growing up. This is his house and possibly workshop, and it is the only surviving artist's home from the 15th century. Durer lived here from 1505 through the end of his life, which was only 1528.

I'll end this post with a snap of our meal. Matt discovered a wonderful place called Cafe Literaturhaus. It is a restaurant with some rooms for reading and meetings, as far as I can tell. It's not a bookstore, but there are some things that look like they could be for sale or at least for perusing. It was a lovely atmosphere and the staff were very kind to us. I ordered a delectable ratatouille and an organic tea. Matt had a more traditional German meal that I can't quite remember, but I know he said it was delectable. (Entertaining fact: when I first started this blog back in 2010, I was loathe to take a food picture and I said as much. Now, they are matter of course.)

On our way back to the station to return to Munich, we saw a group of people protesting nuclear power and weapons. It was a lovely nonviolent occupation of the square. They all wore unity symbols and flew pride flags as well. Matt felt a great sense of comfort, seeing this, being able to travel in Nuremberg as a Jew, and to see this, just over 70 years after the end of WWII. Life, for all of its mess and terror, can be beautiful.

Germany, 2018: Heidelberg

2019-08-29T15:55:00.001-04:00

Again using our trusty train passes, we journeyed to Heidelberg. This was a bit of a hike, as we took the high-speed train to Stuttgart, then changed to another local train which took us right to the historic district. We were able to easily walk to the beautiful old city, and saw gorgeous graffiti on the way. On the way into town, we didn't take this tunnel because we weren't sure of the directions. On the way back, we did, and it turned out way easier (and was also covered in spectacular graffiti). Once in the heart of the old city, we chose a Thai restaurant for lunch. Pictured below is the view from our outside table, at least before the hornets moved in a chased us inside. Can you spot the tourist trap kitsch on the left side of the frame?

After our meal we wandered around the old city, checking out shops and cobbled streets. Matt wanted to visit the University library, so that was our main destination. It was an impressive structure both inside and out. The exterior was imposing and ornate, and I couldn't get far enough away with the narrow streets to take a complete photograph. Hundreds of bicycles were parked outside. The interior was also ornate, and partially a museum. We were mistaken on the way in for college students, which was somewhat of an ego boost at newly 35. I remember Matt having an interesting conversation with someone doing a poll on German college students, but I don't remember the content.

From the entrance pictured above, the vestibule is ornate and there are many rooms dedicated to exhibits (some of which we walked through). There's what appears to be a lot of marble. Not far down the side hallways the building shifts into a modern one, with chrome and glass in place of stone. Much of it is closed to non-students and at the time we visited under construction. It was interesting to see the intersection of history and progress.

Both of us wanted to visit the castle, so once we were satisfied with our library visit we pushed on. We saw some funny shops, bought the best peach gummy candy we've ever had, and saw a gorgeous city square.

To get to the castle you must go up. Far, far up. We could have taken the funicular, however for reasons that escape me now (too many tourists?) we chose to walk. We found the path easily enough and started up. It was made of great stone steps. Naively, we wandered up, up, up. It became clear that the castle was quite high up. Mountain-level up. By this point we were past the point of no return, for our honor in particular. We kept going. There have been several times in my life where I have realized that I am actually out of shape, despite a steady workout and dance regimen. This was one of those times. The way up was lovely, if challenging.

Once we reached the summit, we were very hot and very tired of climbing stairs. The castle grounds were vast and lush, perfectly calming and comforting after such a hike. Perk: there are clean public toilets that don't cost money! First we checked out one side of the ruins:

The upper left part, where you can see rows of windows, is now a performance space where Shakespeare is often done. I think there may be orchestra sometimes as well. Matt really liked the idea of Hamlet being performed in this setting.

We continued walking the grounds. From the first side of the castle we assumed the ruins were more or less intact. Then we rounded a corner and saw this:

The castle was famously struck by lightning in 1534 and 1764, and we wondered if this whole part of the castle that had slid down off itself was damaged in one of those events. Turns out it was destroyed in an explosion, as this part of the castle was the "powder turret." Hashtag "some genius". It was an awe-inspiring view nonetheless. We looked at it and understood why the builders had gone, "nope, we out," after the series of unfortunate events that befell this structure across centuries. Read more about the castle's history here.

The rest of the grounds were just as lovely as the main castle area. We opted out of purchasing tickets to see the apothecary museum or the inside of the castle, preferring instead to spend our day walking through the gardens and looking closely at every detail we could find. There's far too much to put down here, but two that jump out are below. The top photo is an entrance to some underground chambers that were built into the mountainside in an exterior defensive wall. Apparently little lizards run throughout the rooms so the doorknob on the gate is decorated with a brass lizard. The bottom photo is along the same wall on another side of the grounds, where Matt wants to stage his production of Hamlet as mentioned before. He had a good time reciting the famous soliloquy and hearing it reverberate off the structure.

We'll leave you with this view from the mountaintop, looking down onto the old city. Across the water is the old University City, and in the far distance is the modern downtown.

Germany, 2018: Berlin

2019-08-27T16:50:00.002-04:00

Oh, Berlin. This is a city for artistic souls if ever there was one. Matt and I spent a lot of time trying to work out a way to do a successful day trip here, which was incredibly ambitious of us as Berlin is quite far from Munich. We had just watched Babylon Berlin on Netflix and were determined to make it work. Before our trip we researched the heck out of the German Rail Pass, a rail pass for non-European travelers. We decided to get a 4-day pass that we could use any 4 days of one month, on all DB lines. We used this for the first time on our trip to Berlin, and the cost of that train just about covered the cost of the pass for us both!

We visited Berlin on the 4th of July, 2018. Since 2017 we've made it a priority to be out of DC on the 4th and it's lovely. The history of Berlin shines through its recovery, and they seat it center stage. It felt a lot like visiting Hiroshima, another city who wears its tragic past visibly as a warning to the future. The hope, vibrancy, and life of Berlin was evident everywhere we went. And we went just about everywhere in that one day! We purchased a day pass on the metro once we arrived, and it cost about 7 euro to ride all public transit all day. Now this is a good transit system. Also, there's tons of other good options for people who will be there longer than one day, or traveling in a group of up to 5. Germany is great for this!

We started out on the bus, a hop-on hop-off bus that basically travels around Berlin and hits a lot of the sites. We saw Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church right away, as it is very close to the central station. It's a ruin from WWII that they keep as-is, and it's known around Berlin as "der hohle zahn," or "the hollow tooth." Also on the bus we drove by Museum Island, a place we chose not to visit in our one day but would love to go back and spend days on, as well as Humbolt University (the oldest in Berlin), and some sort of routine-looking castle that looks more like a large house. We rode until Alexanderplatz, which features prominently in Babylon Berlin, and there we got off to look around. The plaza is huge and sprawling. There are three train lines that run through it, two above- and one under-ground. Matt really wanted to ride the U-Bahn, so we went underground here to ride up to a sweet little gluten-free bakery called Jute Backerei just off Eberswalder station.

For anyone who suffers from a gluten intolerance, allergy, or celiac disease, it can be next to impossible to travel anywhere outside of your home and find decent, let alone truly safe, food. This bakery is entirely GF, and in many cases vegetarian and vegan. We ate delicious little sandwiches and bought some bread for the road. I actually purchased a loaf of German bread that I ate over the rest of our visit. It made me rethink my offer of moving to Munich in favor of moving to Berlin!

After much fortification, we traveled on. We took the U-Bahn back to Alexanderplatz and saw an incredible fountain. We found the bus again and rode a little ways back toward the host of government buildings that include the Reichstag, the Chancellor's house (nicknamed the washing machine because Germans think it looks like one), and another legislative building. Apparently the Chancelor's residence is called "Bundeskanzleramt."

We walked around the area and found the Brandenburg Gate nearby. This is a relatively imposing structure commemorating an 18th century restoration of Prussian rule during the early Batavian revolution (of which I know nothing). It was the former city gate, which says a little something about how large Berlin has become. When we visited, it was under some severe construction, so we were only able to get middling pictures.

We also hopped the U-Bahn and rode to Potsdamer Platz. This was important to Matt because the station comes up in David Bowie's "Where Are We Now?" released in January 2013. The song opens with the lines, "had to get the train / from Potsdamer platz / you never knew that / that I could do that." It's a beautiful song about life lived and things lost, and it was a special surprise to surface from the station and see pieces of the Berlin wall waiting for us. It affected me deeply to see the Berlin wall, and we didn't even get to the area where it stood specifically. I saw the art, the humanity, superimposed on the hard, impersonal concrete. Something meant to keep people and ideas separate now unites us for the better.

Walking around we also ran into several monuments. One in particular seemed dedicated to hubris, a great angel-topped tower that commemorates another Prussian victory from 1864, famously moved by Hitler right before his defeat to its current location (a great place for his parades, he thought). Most others are reminders of the genocide and racism that ran rampant during national socialism. Both of us particularly connected with the simple memorial wall and pool pictured below, which commemorates the Sinti and Roma people. The other image at the bottom left is the Holocaust memorial. That is incredibly powerful as well, as it is columns of stone that are at varying levels and varying heights, which makes you feel sometimes dwarfed and sometimes towering as you walk through the maze.

This is a good Berlin primer, but it is by no means an exhaustive account, even of what we did in one day. Of all the cities I've visited recently, Berlin ranks as one of the most interesting, artistic, and welcoming. I recommend a long visit as soon as you can make it over!

Germany, 2018: Munich

2019-08-27T15:37:00.001-04:00

Before our Iceland trip last year, we also took some time to kick around Germany again. Of course we had to visit Martina and Christian in Munich again! The city is still amazing, still historical, and still beautiful. I still want to move there, right now. If anyone in Munich wants to hire me, or my husband, or both of us, the answer is yes. Let's go.

All joking aside, after meeting a delightful high school exchange student on the plane who saved us spaces in line for our connecting flight in Iceland, we landed in Munich and made our way out to the burbs. Martina and Christian purchased a sweet not-so-little house a few years ago, and had one 2 year old and a baby on the way. Meanwhile Matt and I were just barely pregnant with our first (who, spoiler alert, died about 8 months later, but that's another story for not-here not-now maybe-not-ever-don't-worry-we're-ok), and renting a very overpriced DC one-bedroom pad. We're still in that overpriced pad but now I'm rocking some serious scars.

Our first day we chose to do some classic introductory things. We went to an outdoor market in downtown Munich, wandered around a bunch and then chose an eatery for lunch. We could walk right up to a counter and order from a long menu of sauerkraut and bratwursts, and eat outside on picnic tables. We also got unique sodas; I think mine was elderflower. Martina and Matt sat across from me and made faces as I took pictures. This is one of the more normal photos I succeeded in capturing. We also visited Marienplatz again, in the heart of the old city. It was a perfect day, with just the right light and cottony clouds. Martina got this lovely photo of us:

We had a lot of fun our second time in Munich, much like our first. We did a lot of riding trains to different parts of the city and walking back, finding joy in discovering we could get around and remember things from 6 years prior. One beautiful discovery was all the graffiti around. We saw some truly lovely art, and also a funny message warning people from naming their children Kevin.

We visited a traditional Bavarian fair as well, which is quite reminiscent of an Ohio fair. It was a step up in the food department with a station of traditional German nuts, and we munched and crunched along to the Bavarian brass band done up in full cultural costume. There were little rides and games for children, and a huge tent with more performances and traditional food. I know a lot of people travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, however, I'd encourage some other travel around more obscure cultural traditions.

For more specific sites and recommendations in Munich, visit our old blogs on the subject. We did a lot more sites that time, whereas this time we mostly hung out with our good friends in their house with their kids doing adult stuff. Six years brings changes! We were able to take some day trips to other incredible cities, so check those pages for what we found.

Iceland, Part Six: Alafoss

2019-08-22T10:21:00.001-04:00

Near Reykjavik is a sweet little town called Alafoss, named after the waterfall that gave power to the mills of an 1896 wool factory. It's also home to the recording studio of Sigur Ros. We went to find Icelandic wool for gifts, and we weren't disappointed. It's a charming area with great history.

Just a typical building in Alafoss. This one sold historical figures, knives, and the like.

This is the wool factory. It still runs today, and we spent a long time inside deciding on just the right shade of Icelandic blue and cream wool. It's well worth a visit even if you don't craft, knit, sew, etc.

A view of modern Reykjavik from the coast. We spent our last night walking around the old city again, after eating delectable crepes. As the sun set, we watched the golden light fall over the shiny chrome. The golden statue there is called the Sun Voyager and is a representation of a Viking longship. We felt peaceful, tired, and happy after our time in Iceland. It will be fun to see what we experience next time!

Iceland, Part Five: Thingvellir

2019-08-22T10:12:00.000-04:00

Our last big hurrah in Iceland was visiting Thingvellir National Park. This proved to be probably our favorite attraction, due to the immense amount of history associated with the place. First of all, it's gorgeous. It's also historical, important in social, cultural, and geographic ways. It was the seat of Viking parliament, Althing, from 930 AD to 1798. Which is a long time. The park itself was founded on the 1,000 anniversary of Althing, or 1930, and it became a World Heritage Site in 2004.

This is a vista across the land, showing part of the rifts that line the valley. The views go on for as long as one can see, even on such a small island.

Here is Logberg, or Law Rock. It is where Viking lawmakers announced their decisions on cases, using the natural amphitheater created by the rocks to thunder their voices down on the people.

Do you need to drown a woman? Then come to Drekkingarhylur, the drowning pool for all your drowning needs. Apparently, up until the 18th century, a woman found guilty of adultery, incest, or murder (often of infants), were tied in sacks and drowned right here. Sometimes a woman was tied up and placed on a rock on one side while someone else (obviously a man) stood on the other, holding a rope to the woman, and pulled her into the water until she died. It's great to be a girl.

It wouldn't be Iceland without a gorgeous waterfall. This is Oxarafoss, on the Oxara river. It is a bit of a hike up into the rift above the valley, and just spectacular.

This demonstrates what I'll call classic Iceland. Lava rock, lush greenery, vibrant wildflowers, small mountains, water everywhere, and pine trees. It's all there.

Iceland, Part Four: the Ring Road

2019-08-22T09:55:00.001-04:00

Part of the adventure in Iceland is driving the Ring Road, or Route 1. This highway goes all the way around Iceland in, you guessed it, a circle or ring. Matt estimates that we drove about 1/3 of the ring from Reykjavik to Akureyri and then back again. Most Ring Road travelers might scoff at us for this boomerang of sorts, as it seems like the typical method is to commit to the whole ring. That seems incredible if one can dedicate the time and money, which we could not last year. Perhaps in the future there will be another choice.

Regardless, we loved our drive. On the way up to Akureyri we pretty much just drove after the museum in Borgarnes, in order to make it to our destination on time. On the way back to Reykjavik we meandered, stopping at any interesting site we found along the way.

The first incredible view was this rainbow. We were at the start of our journey and I was driving. We came to a place where we needed to continue around a slight curve to continue on 1 while route 82 went off to the right. I looked ahead and saw the rainbow. For most of our time in Iceland it had been rainy, foggy, and chilly. This day was promising to be sunny and warm, and the evaporating water combined with the new sunlight provided this bucolic picture. I pulled over, hopped out, and snapped so many pictures. I had no idea how they would come out, and I am pretty happy with the result.

We continued our drive and next found a place to pull over for a bit of hiking and photography. It is called Horgarsveit, and it's just lovely. We joked that the bridge was just for sheep, not people, as we could not discover a way down.

Somewhere along the way we also discovered this scenic poet's house. For the life of me, I cannot find this on the map again, nor can I find who the poet was who lived here. Perhaps I've made a mistake, or the reference is very remote. In any case, it is a beautiful vista. I remember saying at the time, "If I grew up someplace like this, I'd be a poet, too."

We also drove down a little offshoot road and found an original Viking church called Vidimyrarkirkja. It's a still-practicing Lutheran church, built in the old style of Viking building apparently called a "turfhouse church," or at least that's how I see it referred to a lot. It is a very small building and very interesting to walk around. It costs money to go inside, so we chose to stick to the exterior.

The last big attraction we chose was Glanni waterfall. We stopped nearby for some good food in a little area of lodging and attractions, and watched Iceland play in the 2018 World Cup finals for a bit, alongside several Icelandic families. With full tummies, we drove to the "waterfall car park" as it is noted on the map, and then hiked through some lovely trails until we found the falls.

For all that we saw, there's tons more sights. We can't wait to return and drive another part of the road to collect more adventures!

Iceland, Part Three: Lake Myvatn

2019-08-21T18:03:00.000-04:00

The entire reason we went to Akureyri was to be close to Lake Myvatn and the gorgeous sights that surround it. We were not disappointed in the least. The first sight we came upon was Godafoss, which I think means something like "waterfall of the Gods." It is huge, breathtakingly so. It falls from a height of 12 m and spans a distance of 30 m. The picture below gives a relatively good impression of what it is like to stand and look up at it.

The area was also home to some plants we'd never seen before. It was neat to see Icelandic plants that we couldn't find at home. The water from the falls also continued downstream into other smaller falls as it continued on its way.

The next stop on our itinerary as we drove around the lake was Skutustadagigar. This is a sprawling landscape of lava craters that were made when gas exploded in lava. It's impossibly green now, and cultivated for farming. There are paths that wander up and down through the craters, and you can walk for hours.

Pressing on, we visited the Dimmu Borgir lava fields. These are also tremendous structures that stretch for hours. We could easily have spent days walking here! It reminded me a little bit of Garden of the Gods in Colorado, with the fanciful rock formations.

Just a site on the road too beautiful to pass up:

After this we'd had a lot of excitement and done tons of walking, so we stopped for lunch at Vogafjos Farm Restaurant. It's a charming place with incredible food that I can't recommend highly enough. All the food was fresh (naturally, they farm it there, including the beef, and they make their own cheese and skyr). Delectable! I had an incredible rhubarb compote dessert with fresh cream.

After food, we made a brief stop at Grjotagja Cave, famous for a natural hot spring that is actually too hot for humans now. Darn all that volcanic activity! It will seriously cook you. It was lovely however, with a deep blue glow and clear water. There were tons of tourists so we didn't stay long, but we also got to see some nonchalant sheep! I think the cave is on a natural fault line, but don't quote me on the specifics. It makes for some neat geography.

Our last stop along the route was Storagja. It was difficult to find an entrance as this is pretty much just a hiking trail that follows a deep cavern with hot springs at the bottom through the countryside. It almost looks like continuous land from some vantage points, but the distance is really substantial. We climbed down into the cavern and walked along for a little bit, and saw places where intrepid people descended into the springs. I don't think the place is safe, because of all the human use. Too much bacteria and other poop diseases. We ruin everything we touch, guys, everything.

Iceland, Part Two: Akureyri

2019-08-21T17:27:00.000-04:00

We drove the ring road from Reykjavik to Akureyri on our second day in the country. Matt really wanted to go see The Settlement Center, due to his deep interest in Icelandic, Viking, Greenlandic, and Inuit cultures, and I was happy to go as well. We started with two great exhibits on how Iceland was settled, and finished with some amazingly great food from the attached restaurant. We were super lucky to get into the restaurant as they had a large group reserving the whole place that day!

Here is a great photo from the exhibit of some masks depicting Norse Gods.

In order: traditional lamb stew, gluten free bread with fresh Icelandic butter and volcanic charcoal salt, and a smoked trout on rye.

After our delightful museum tour and meal, we drove up to Akureyri. It's a beach town, with an upscale beach vibe. We came for the sights around Lake Myvatn, which I'll write about in another post, yet we found some nice things to enjoy in this sleepy town as well.

We stayed in another great AirBnB, way up on a hill. It was a pleasant walk to the downtown, plus we got to stay in an upstairs guest house with one other couple from Germany, who were also driving the ring road (much more intensively than we, I might add). Travel friends are great! We found a nice restaurant by accident that first night called Strikid, and that was fortunate because not much in this town is GF friendly. Even a fast Mexican place of sorts wasn't very GF. There could be some Indian and Thai restaurants we didn't check out, so if anyone else has other recommendations let me know!

On the way back from dinner, we took a lovely photographic walk through the FREE botanical gardens. I truly can't believe they are free, they are stunning. Below is one view of the huge Arctic plant garden:

And here is a collage of some other lovely moments. It's simply too large and too beautiful to put it all in here.

Iceland, Part One: Reykjavik

2019-08-21T16:55:00.001-04:00

Last summer, in July 2018, we went for a lovely week in Iceland. Much has happened between now and then which has precluded my writing about it until now. However, Iceland and all that we experienced is still there, and I feel confident that recommendations I give from that time will still be valid. Strap in and enjoy the beauty!

Iceland is one of those mystical places. It has breathtaking beauty and people who are actually happy and take care of each other for the most part. Visiting there, I felt very welcome, even as I felt the keen cultural and linguistic differences. It's a place I could return to again and again, and always find something new.

We started our adventure in Reykjavik, as I believe is most common. The international airport is very easy to get around and it's also accessible to the city by bus if needed. We rented a car from Blue Car Rental after a lot of research, and I recommend this company fully. It was a great experience from start to finish, and they were really fair with the rental price too. I'm not getting paid to say this, by the way, it's just true. They're good at what they do, and fair about it. We got a teeny Toyota Aygo, which we joked the entire time about "I go... if you push me," and other corny things like that. For the summer, it was just fine! We had limited choices because as Americans who don't drive stick shift much (at all?), we were relegated to choosing automatic transmissions.

After the car and finding our AirBnB (Iceland currently supports AirBnB rentals and properties because they love tourism), we walked into the old town area for dinner. It's a lovely part of town and where we spent most of our time in the city.

Hallgrimskirkja! This is a HUGE church with an equally large organ that is world-renowned. Famous organists give concerts here all the time. Its claim to fame is that it is 74.5 m tall, the highest church in Iceland. We love the fact that it's named after Hallgrimur Petursson, a poet and clergyman. He wrote the Passion Hymns, of which I know nothing. The church is really good for marking where you are, if you get lost.

This is a famous record shop that Matt wanted a picture of. I do not have a connection to it, but he swears it is cool.

We ate at Kol restaurant, knowingly splurging with complete acceptance. We went in for the three-course menu with Icelandic scallops and charred salmon, complete with a white chocolate cheesecake confection for dessert. It was all gluten free (plus the restaurant has tons of vegan choices too), and some of the most interesting flavors I've experienced. I highly recommend a visit to this place if you can afford to splurge a bit on food. We made a reservation before the fact too, and it worked out perfectly! Feast your eyes and prepare to become hungry:

We enjoyed more time in this city later in our trip, and had the chance to walk around and eat wonderful gluten free crepes from a great place in the old city called Joylato. That's a crepe stuffed with avocado, tomato, and other goodness, and a GF brownie topped with hazelnut and mint ice cream. I think. It was delicious, in any case.

Breakfasts were obtained from convenience stores, skyr for me and fun little wrapped pancakes for Matt. Just read labels if you don't like artificial sweeteners in your food, as almost all the skyrs were full of them! I didn't expect that, since in America that's uncommon now. I did manage to find a great local brand that was delicious and free of all artificial flavorings. So it can be done!

Montreal

2019-07-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

Matt and I came back from a quick trip to Montreal yesterday, and I wanted to jot down our trip for anyone who needs recommendations in the future! We discovered the Passeport Montreal, which is a 2 or 3 day pass card for the city. It covers tons of interesting sites, museums, and activities, all while providing a transit pass valid on all metro and bus lines. We have a history of loving city passes (see our Osaka trip from 2011 for example), and jumped at the chance to experience the city this way. We were able to easily purchase the pass from an infotouriste center at Peel, and immediately began using it.

We chose to visit the following sites:

Jardin Botanique

These are a series of outside gardens and indoor greenhouses. We took a whole morning and explored the grounds, and could have done much more. The photo above is from the Japanese gardens, as we sat at a viewing pavilion. The gardens are easy to get to from the green metro line, and just a wonderful place to be.

MAC, or Musee d'Art Contemporain

A quick museum with a lot of varied exhibits. I enjoyed the installations of native art, many of which dealt with the great abuse suffered by native women: rape, murders, abductions, etc. We also found it fascinating that we went to Montreal and saw The National in their 6-hour performance of "Sorrow."

Biosphere

The Biosphere was built to house America's pavilion in the Expo '67 world's fair. We sold it to Canada for $1 after the event, and it now houses an incredible museum dedicated to the environment. It's a great place for elementary-aged children, too!

Musee des Beax-Arts Montreal

This museum was walking distance from our place near Guy Concordia metro. It has a ton of exhibits, and we walked quite a bit of it. We went through the wing dedicated to Canadian artists, which started with contemporary work by native artists and then went back in time, working up to present again down each level of the wing. We also saw some very postmodern work in another area, dealing with games in art and tricks of the mind, and then a whole exhibit on the cosmos and human place in it. We finished our day with a contemporary native artist and her look at women and children in the native cultures.

Observatoire 360 at Place Ville Marie: very hard to find from directions, but stupid easy to find actually. Walk into 1 Place Ville Marie, and head straight on the left side of the large entry room. There should be an elevator on your left, take it up as high as you can, to the ticket level. Then you'll go up a few more times to the actual open area! It was stunning, although I didn't take any pictures due to smudges on the glass. We also walked up the Mont Royal our first day in, and the view from that hill wasn't as interesting as this, and it was also full of instagrammers.

There's tons more sites, too, this is just what we chose for our two-day pass use!

And oh, the food:

Grilled cheese with apple and various confections at Cookie Stefanie, a dedicated GF facility. Truly amazing, worth several visits. It's near Notre Dame in old city.

Modavie French Bistro in old city provided a great meal as well. It's very GF friendly, with tons of options clearly labeled. The star of our night was the saffron risotto with fresh sage, Parmesan, and hazelnuts.

Arepas can't be beat! We went to Arepera, a fantastic and entirely GF restaurant. There's tons of GF eats and beer, if you want it. I actually ate empanadas for the first time in my life! It's close to Sherbrooke metro.

Matt obviously had to have a Montreal bagel, too, so we searched for a good place. We finally found Bagels on Greene, a surprising market that has tons of bagels, sandwiches, and Indian food! The Montreal bagels are not GF, obviously, but they do have GF bagels and GF bread, and tons of the Indian options are GF. This place is a quick walk from Atwater metro.

Other places that didn't get pictures: Patisserie Petit Lapin, a pastry shop. This is a bit far out, and not the greatest I've ever had - I recommend the donuts, a skip the cupcakes. We also had good pizza downtown at Pizza Il Focolaio. Also try to see Atwater Market, near Lionel-Groulx metro.

There's plenty of other GF friendly places we didn't get to: Boulangerie Baked2Go, DoughNats, Spanel Crepe... and more! Just search on Google maps for more suggestions.

A Flamenca dancer shines in old city.

Regensburg, or the Final Germany Post

2019-07-10T15:02:00.000-04:00

I have not posted for seven years since leaving Japan. I have been through a lot, as has Matt, and we've begun a little bit of traveling again in order to reconnect and heal. I have been re-doing this blog and stumbled upon this post, that I started but never posted, a few months after our return. I chose not to change it, since I liked the words from my younger, more carefree self. Enjoy!

Nearly three months after leaving Japan and the better part of two since our Germany tour, I am finally finishing up the Germany-themed posts! It's been a whirlwind few months that feels much longer. Now we're looking back on two years of incredible travels and experiences, trying to find work in our strangely inhospitable native country, wondering... what's next? And what better to do at a time like this but to look back fondly at travels through a functionally stable, health-care-providing country!

Regensburg was beautiful like all the other cities we visited in southern Germany. The view above is from one of the oldest bell towers at the Basilica St. Emmeram. The tall spires to the right of the photo belong to St. Peter's Church, which we also visited. I loved the brightly colored houses everywhere. To the right of this text is a picture from inside the church at St. Emmeram. The Basilica is what is left of the St. Emmeram abbey, which became the Thurn and Taxis palace (more on that below). Everything is very ornate and historically interconnected.

On the Stone Bridge, which leads to old town and has a view of St. Peter's Church.

Martina and I found many types of doors, some overly large, and this one, very small.

This is Schloss Thurn and Taxis, which Matt especially wanted to visit because of "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon. The Thurn and Taxis family was instrumental in the post office throughout Europe in the 16th century, and then after around 1806 began setting up breweries and building castles. The family is actually still around and still lives here. They're still filthy rich and their old brewery company still produces Thurn and Taxis beer. The grounds are immense and so is the castle. I couldn't photograph it entirely!

Schloss Nymphenburg

2012-07-07T16:49:00.000-04:00

I've been remiss in posting the rest of our Germany trip, and for that I apologize. Matt and I got thrown into family gatherings and looking for jobs the minute we set foot on American soil. Although we've only been back for about 2.5 months, it feels like a lot longer! Partly this is due to just how much we miss traveling around Japan and Germany, and how much we want to go back, coupled with how hard it is to find a job in America these days. But enough of our whining. On to a magnificent castle!

We were lucky enough to be able to visit Schloss Nymphenburg, pictured above in cloudy glory. It was the summer home of Bavaria's rulers back in the day, and very Baroque in style. Construction began in 1664 and wasn't finished for some time. The view above is the front of the palace, seen over the second of two massive ponds filled with swans. Where we are standing is close to the center point of the front entrance, which is entirely symmetrical from the first entrance point on. It's rather remarkable, especially since the symmetry is not overt; as we were walking in, it took some time to realize that all the structures were replicated exactly on the other side of our path. Partly this is because although there is symmetry, there's not consistency. Most notably, every building looks exactly like the one across from it, but different from the ones beside it. These buildings were reserved for various advisers, clergy, and the like. The palace itself is of course a structure to behold, and you can see it here in panoramic glory.

The gardens behind the main entrance were fantastic and incredibly long. The grounds were free, so we saw plenty of joggers and bikers exercising. At first we were curious as to how they got a workout in, but then we realized the grounds kept going farther than we could see. There were more man-made ponds (or lakes as they like to call them), decked out with statues of Gods and Goddesses from the Roman and Greek myths. The whole cast and crew were there, starting with Cronus and Rhea, the leader of the Titans who ate his children and the wife driven to torment by these betrayals. They are followed by Zeus and Hera, naturally, and from there things get a little less predictable. There are all the major players, from Athena with her bow and arrow to Dionysus with his grapes and sly smirk. Throughout are meticulously cultivates lawns and flowers. Pictured to the right is one of my favorite statues, that of Demeter. There is the scythe in her hand and at her feet is a bountiful harvest. I got lucky with the shot, too, with that perspective on the palace in the background. We actually decided not to travel the whole length of the gardens because we wanted time to investigate the inner rooms of the castle a bit, and the weather was a bit rainy (as should be apparent from the gloomy hue of the pictures). The inside was every bit as incredible as the outside, in some cases even more so. Similarly to the palace Rohan of Strasbourg, the rooms were bedecked with restored furniture, portrait collections, and oh, the ceilings!

To the left is a good example of how ornate the accoutrements of the castle are. There were several clocks in this palace, and this one shows a scene of three young girls communing with a bull. I'm sure it depicts a scene from some myth or popular tale, but I don't know it. In the mirror behind the clock you can see a painting of a young girl. King Ludwig was quite a fan of youthful beauty, and commissioned nearly 40 paintings of women he found remarkably beautiful from all classes of society, to hang in the palace.

To the right is a shot in the Great Hall, which is located where one would think it should be, in the exact middle of the symmetrical palace structure. From the windows you could see out both sides quite far down the grounds. It was quite stunning.

However, my favorite masterpiece in the castle, more so than Ludwig's "Hall of Beauties" or the Greek statues, was the Great Hall's ceiling. Just when I thought the room couldn't get any more lavish, I looked up, and was greeted by a full mural depicting the Olympian heaven. The work, by Johann Baptist Zimmermann, is done in the late court Rococo style. This style is characteristic of Bavaria, which I can attest to having seen it in many palaces and churches from the time period. An interesting bit of trivia: on the right side, there are several nymphs paying homage to another nymph-turned-goddess, Flora, and it is a reference to the palace's name.

Possibly more fascinating than the art is the fact that the Great Hall has been left practically untouched since 1758. They touch it up every now and again, and make sure the dust is cleared, but otherwise it is kept entirely intact and historically accurate. This can have been no small feat, especially through the turbulent history of Bavaria and then Germany, through which this castle endured.

Strasbourg

2012-05-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

We were lucky enough to be able to jump a TGV to Strasbourg a few days after visiting Austria, so we added France to our quickly growing list of countries. The day was slightly rainy but not uncomfortable as we walked throughout the historic downtown. The entire old city is designated as a World UNESCO Heritage Site and we felt lucky to see it. We wandered through streets and streets of picturesque storefronts, marveling at the copious bakeries. We soon found ourselves at the lovely Palais Rohan behind the most famous cathedral of Strasbourg.

The palace is a large structure that can be seen in an aerial photograph here. I only got the back portion of the building, which is what you see once you go through the entrance gates into the courtyard. There were four or five museums in the palace which we gained access to by purchasing a day pass (for about 10 euro). We walked a very interesting archaeological exhibit dealing with the origins of civilization in France that was quite enlightening. After this, we visited galleries hung floor-to-ceiling with French paintings, and two special photography exhibits. Finally, we entered the main floor of the building and were treated to lavish sights of past living quarters.

Although I love paintings, photography, and a good science exhibit, I am ultimately a sucker for royal quarters. It was incredible to wander the palace looking at the murals painted above all the doorways, the marble columns, the giant tapestries covering the walls, and of course a giant library with marble busts of ancient philosophers. There are too many incredible photographs to share them all here, so I chose two of the most impressive. First, the library, and second, a decadent parlor room.

The furniture was restored whenever possible, so what you are looking at was actually sat upon by the inhabitants of the palace. The palace was built as a living quarter for Bishops and other religious figures, but it had to be decked out enough that the top royalty could stay there when they came to town. Marie Antoinette stayed at the palace in 1770, and Napoleon stayed there several times with each wife as well as did his son (we saw all their rooms). It was funny to think about the Bishops decorating the place, as people who are supposed to be relatively austere, throwing up their hands and saying "well, it's really for the royalty, you know how they are." But they must have loved it.

After the palace, we walked across the square to Strasbourg's Notre Dame cathedral. It's a similar in style to the famous Notre Dame in Paris, although it has only one spire (an outside photograph is here). Inside it is soaring and majestic, everything you expect from a cathedral. It has some amazing stained glass, pictured below. It is also the home of an astronomical clock, the third in its series, built in 1843. The first two are on display in the palace museums, and they are all spectacular. I marveled at the planetary dials, the displays of the sun and the moon, astrologer clocks, solar and lunar eclipse charts, and much more. You can read a little more about the clocks here. One of the defining features of the clocks is the rooster automaton, that performs every day at 12:30. It is thought to be the oldest automaton.

Saltzburg

2012-05-21T12:07:00.000-04:00

There's not much to say about Saltzburg except that it's absolutely gorgeous. We went there and back on a Bayern ticket, which is how we went to most places in Germany (up to 5 people can ride all day, any distance, for about 30 euro). It was definitely worth the trip. It's only a few hours train ride from Munich, and it was wonderful to step into Austria for a little bit.

We came in at the downtown train station, a short walk from Schloss Mirabelle. This is a baroque style palace done in French and Italian style. Its famous gardens were beautiful, filled with color, and often planted in the patterns of family crests. Scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed here, most famously the Do-Re-Mi song, where they dance around a horse fountain in the garden and use the steps as scales.

After a look at the palace, we walked through town to the old part of the city. Eventually we came to an open square where looking up we saw a very impressive fortress, called Festung Hohensalzburg. It sits above the city on a mountain, and is almost as impressive as Burghausen's castle. We rode a lift up the mountain that was a re-purposed supplies lift. Our ticket enabled us to walk the grounds freely, as well as participate in many tours and walk through all the museums in the fortress. This fortress had some incredible treasures inside, as well as beautiful architecture, ceilings, and doors. Some of my favorites are pictured next.

Here's a recent discovery of old arched columns and paintings that were bricked up over years of renovations to the fortress.

Below is a shot of a decorative ceiling in one of the estate rooms.

To the right is an old ceramic stove. I could hardly believe it ever was useful and not simply decorative. There were several such stoves in all the princely chambers, decorated intricately, used to keep the massive rooms warm in winter. The largest one was in the golden chamber, and it was decorated mostly in gold leaf.

To the left is a door in the "golden chambers," a lavishly decorated princely room adjacent to the "golden hall," and the bedchamber, where the ceiling picture was taken. The doors in this fortress were absolutely the most ornate I have ever seen. I loved the ironwork on this door. Others had little jewels set into them.

Family Time: Easter Dinner and Tegernsee

2012-05-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

We visited Germany over Easter, which meant a lot of candy coupled with large family gatherings with tons of champagne and incredible food. One day we went to a gathering with one of Martina's uncles, where we met a lot of her cousins. They were lovely people, very festive. We enjoyed talking with them about the state of the world, what might happen in the next American election, taking a long walk in the snowy weather, and toasting a ridiculous amount of champagne to all the family milestones (a baby on the way and a marriage next year). Martina's uncle is also an antique camera collector so we got to see his fairly substantial collection. I even impressed him by being able to open one of the oldest models that he couldn't figure out. To the right is a picture of Martina and her siblings, Maxi and Suzi, who we got to spend some nice time with.

On Easter Sunday proper, we went to Martina's family home for a celebration with her mother and siblings. Her mom taught us how to make traditional goulash, the end result of which is pictured to the right. It's very much like a stroganoff but with more of a tomato base. We made it with some brown rice pasta I brought, and everyone enjoyed trying the new taste. After lunch, we had an egg hunt, which really was "find the massive plates of candy with your name on it." Once we found the bounty, we reenacted the last supper, shown below. It's not terribly authentic, but it was great fun, and I personally enjoy Maxi and Matt looking off in the opposite directions while Martina's mom breaks the chocolate bunny.

The next day we went to Tegernsee, a beautiful mountain town, and hiked up a snowy alp. We were not prepared for the conditions, and did suffer a bit because of our shoes, especially on the way down, but it was beautiful. We made it all the way up to a little church on top of a very high peak, and looked out across a gorgeous expanse below. Back in the village later, we marveled at the architecture and went to a famous monastery brewery called Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus, where I drank apfelchorle, a delicious sparkling apple juice, and everyone else drank beer. It took the sting of the mountain away.

Burghausen

2012-05-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

One of our lovely hosts, Christian, hails from the town of Burghausen. We went to stay with his parents for a night and were treated to some spectacular sights as well as amazing traditional food. The weather was gorgeous so we walked through the town to Burghausen castle. It is the longest castle in all of Europe, at 1.051m, and it is truly enormous. There are six "courts," or sections of the castle. Each court was specific in purpose and historically housed very different types of people and affairs. The sixth court is the outermost court, and has the clock tower, a guard tower, was a place for executions, and housed manual workers and couriers, among other things. The fifth court holds the exterior chapel, an observation tower, a park (where we played on see-saws), and was the place for ducal administration with the granary and cashier's office. The fourth court is the prison. There is a hexenturm or witch's tower, that holds cells and a dungeon. There's also a torture tower and a prison/labor house. Additionally this is where the stables and stable hands were located, along with another defensive tower. It is truly a multi-purpose court. The third court contains the arsenal guard-tower, towers for artillery and lookouts, and a large arsenal. The second court contains more battlements, more stables, and belongs to the inner castle. Being there without permission used to mean your ears would be cut off. The first court, and innermost area of the castle, held many more strategic battlements, prisons, and strongholds, but also is the location of the household cambers, dining rooms, and ducal quarters.

The castle truly is amazing, and a sight well worth seeing. To the right is one of the famous gates between courts. I think this one may be the entrance to the second court, but don't quote me on that. Below is a stunning view of an external castle wall and the village, as seen through the observation tower in the fifth court. One thing I found remarkable about this castle is the fact that people live here today. It is full of apartments that are owned by area families and passed down through generations. It is nearly impossible to get a place here unless you are left it by someone who passes away.

Everyone enjoys a good see-saw, no matter his or her age!

We were really lucky on the day we visited. We were able to sneak back into the main keep of the castle and look around some of the inner rooms. Even Christian had never been able to see this part of the grounds before! We walked around the entire inner court, outside and in. Here you can see some of the best photos from the inside rooms we passed through. Below is a picture into the center of the inner court, which we couldn't get into because of the iron gates. The shape in the center hallway is a cannon. The castle, as a whole, was a very impressive, open structure. It was somewhat thrilling to wander about and get in the nooks and crannies of such an expansive, old, and historic place.

So you can appreciate just how gorgeous all the towns are in Bavaria, here's a shot of Burghausen from the castle:

Remember I said his parents treated us to amazing home cooking? Well, that is no joke. Christian's mom is a fantastic chef who enjoys preparing lots of food for her guests. As is tradition in Germany, we usually ate a giant lunch in the mid-afternoon and a very small dinner later at night. Our first afternoon with his parents is pictured on the left: we ate delicious mashed potatoes flavored with a local onion/garlic grass, garden fresh green beans, and a pork roast. His parents are also wine connoisseurs, so we drank very high quality wine for the first time in our lives. And of course, since there were engagements to celebrate (spoiler alert: Martina and Christian are getting married next year!) there was lots of champagne. The next afternoon we ate white sausage with sweet mustard, and everyone but myself had huge Bavarian pretzels and beer. This is a very traditional meal in Bavaria. To eat it, you skin the sausage and dip the meat into the sweet mustard. Typically one eats it with the bread and beer, but I was given some delicious rice and potatoes instead. It was a lovely trip to visit some great people.

The Youth Vote

2012-05-14T10:59:00.001-04:00

In honor of the recent elections in France and Greece, here's a picture I took on our spring travels to Strasbourg. The posters read things like "youth united to resist," and "a stable job is my right." The thing is, it worked. Sarkozy is out and a socialist candidate is in. Angela Merkel is holding tight to the reigns in Germany, steering Europe in a more responsible direction. I'm very interested to see how this develops.

Incredible Churches

2012-05-03T17:22:00.000-04:00

Munich is peppered with churches, as can be expected of a country that is historically very Catholic. There were two that stuck out to us, on opposite sides of the spectrum. One was all white, clean lines and open space. The other was dark, violent, and looked like a potential Tim Burton movie set. As you can see, it is a lot easier to get a clean shot in a bright white church!

There's just something fascinating about this church. I think it's all the skeletons.

Enter: Germany

2012-05-03T16:43:00.000-04:00

We stopped in Munich to visit my good friend Martina who studied abroad in America during high school. Munich is an unbelievably beautiful and clean city, full of spectacular architecture and interesting places to visit. The surrounding area is made up of rolling hills dappled with stupendous castles. Martina and her man Christian were the best hosts ever, taking us all over and dealing with us in their space for almost three weeks!

The first main tourist site we visited was Hohenschwangau, home of two castles. The first we saw was Schloss Neuschwanstein, built by Ludwig II. It was never really completed, especially inside, as the King went bankrupt during the process. He was removed from the throne and thrown in prison, where he managed to talk his way out for a solitary walk where he drowned himself. It's a tale befitting such a sight and such a life. The castle itself, shown below from an onlooking bridge, is an impressive white vision that towers over the surrounding valleys. Fun bit of trivia: this is the castle that Sleeping Beauty's castle is modeled on (and the Walt Disney castle logo).

The second castle was Schloss Hohenschwangau, a summer home for the royal family. It was a beautiful yellow, set down in the valley from the white giant. We decided to tour the inside of this castle because it was actually finished. It was exquisitely decorated of course, but another and more impressive feature had to be the location of the windows. As seen below, there were several turrets. The placement of the windows in the rooms of the turrets created panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

Sofukuji Temple

2012-04-24T21:34:00.000-04:00

One of the most vivid sights we encountered in Nagasaki was the Sofukuji, a Buddhist temple built in the Chinese style. It was constructed in 1629 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki, and still functions as a place of worship for those of Chinese descent. It is located adjacent to Chinatown, up a hill quite a ways and set back into the forest. What separates it from Japanese-style temples is the color: the Chinese-style buildings are very bright, as you can see. The reds, blues, and greens simply jumped off the structures. As our posts of Japanese-style temples can show, the color template there is often muted and subdued. Another difference deals with the statues of the Gods and Goddesses, as are shown in some pictures below.

First, here's the second gate, up a steep flight of stairs from the main entrance shown above.

Note the bright blue, green, and orange! This was unlike anything I had seen on a temple before. Matt and I enjoyed seeing it because it was so beautiful and we felt it would prime us nicely for the short stop we'd make in Beijing on our way to Europe.

More examples of the rich design: to the left, a stunning altar display, featuring the reds, oranges, and yellows that are so prominent in Chinese design. To the right, an example of the exquisite lanterns that lined the temple walkways. This one shows delicate designs of Chinese flora and fauna. Below, the ceiling beams covered in flowers and dragons.

This final picture is a good example of the different kinds of statues found in Chinese-style temples. They are a little difficult to see, but the two figures on the sides of the picture below may be related to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." You can see the one on the left holding a hand up over his eyes, and the one on the right is holding a hand up to his ear. Chinese scholars, any information is greatly appreciated!

Philipp Franz von Siebold and Dejima

2012-04-22T10:46:00.001-04:00

Our main reason for visiting Nagasaki was to see the historic island of Dejima. This is a place to which foreigners were relegated during the time Japan was closed. Circa 1823 or so, the land mass was actually a man-made island stuck off the coast of Nagasaki, hanging into the bay by one bridge. The shogun used the unusual circumstances of the island to decree it simultaneously not part of Japan yet under Japanese law; thus, foreigners could live there. They could not leave except by ship, and only a few were allowed to visit the mainland, one of whom was the doctor and researcher at Dejima, Philipp Franz von Siebold.

Many of you may know Siebold from Matt's facebook photo. To the left is the actual portrait of Siebold, age 30, painted on Dejima in 1823 by Kawahara Keiga. We saw this, along with many other paintings depicting life on Dejima and Siebold's plant research in a museum dedicated to the doctor and his research. In light of an incredible novel we read recently called The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, visiting these two places were possibly the most rewarding experiences from our time in Japan. If you have not read this book, do so immediately. Then go to Nagasaki and geek out over the ingenious way the author wove the actual history of Dejima and von Siebold into a fantastic and utterly moving novel. von Siebold was, as mentioned, the resident doctor of Dejima. He taught medicine to the Japanese and was one of the only foreigners allowed access to mainland Japan, where he researched native plants.

This work turned him into one of the first Japanese scholars. He learned the language, married a Japanese woman, and had a daughter. He was thrown out of the country as a spy because of his research, and spent 30 years separated from his wife and child. His Japanese daughter grew up to be a well-respected doctor and midwife due to her father's teaching, and she delivered one of the heirs to the throne who helped open the country for the Meiji era. Below is a document of von Siebold's research from Japan, and to the side is Matt "Siebolding."

The historic buildings of Dejima:

Deputy Director's Quarters, a huge building that spans the length of one of the main streets on the island. Around it are several warehouse spaces, the Ship's Captain's Quarters, and some Clerk's Quarters. Behind it is the row for Japanese residents of Dejima (translators, visiting dignitaries, and servants).

Inside the main quarters were several lavish rooms. This one was used for preliminary business meetings and so small-scale entertainment. Across from this was a room for conducting actual transactions of the East India shipping company, signing paperwork, solidifying contracts, and the like.

This is the dining hall, used for large-scale dinners and entertainment. In all the rooms, note the tatami on the floors and the Japanese-style walls, both covered with European-designed rugs and wallpapers. Of course, there is also the furniture. In this picture, the table is set with a feast for the "winter solstice" festival, which was in actuality Christmas. However, Christianity was forbidden on Dejima so the sailors and workers had to hide their rituals.

To learn more about this place, visit this link. It's worth a long look, I promise.

Nagasaki, a City of Love and Peace

2012-04-17T12:07:00.001-04:00

We went to Nagasaki before leaving Japan, and it was a wonderful decision. The city is lovely, populated by open and friendly people. It is spread out but each part is easily accessible by foot or trolley. On our first day, we visited the Peace Park to take in monuments commemorating the atomic blast of 8.9.1945. The most famous one is pictured to the left, a towering blue giant pointing to the sky (the threat of nuclear power) and reaching to one side (the arm of peace). Fun fact: every time we told people in Gifu we were going to Nagasaki, they confusedly attempted to reproduce the pose.

More striking than the blue man, however, was the monument marking the hypocenter of the blast. Seen to the right, it is a tall pillar in the middle of a large, low-lying field. Concentric circles spread from the pillar, creating an emotionally powerful visual. Nearby is a small piece of the Urakami Cathedral that survived the blast, moved from its location in order to preserve the memory when the church was rebuilt on the original site.

Behind the church ruins (in which you can see both Western and Eastern archaeological influences) is a long alcove meant for hanging cranes in remembrance of the victims. Before we left Gifu, one of Matt's former students gave us two delicately folded bundles of cranes, one in shades of green and the other in shades of pink. We took them to Nagasaki and hung them in the alcove as our small offering to the country. They are the two very small bundles hanging to the left of the bright yellow chains. It was nice to leave a memento; it felt right. We could think of no better fate for our cranes.

Very close to the Peace Park we found one of the most famous symbols of the bombing: the one-legged torii. Walking back behind the new apartment buildings, we found the shrine that belongs to the torii, guarded by two enormous camphor trees. Amazingly, the trees survived the blast and have been filled-in and preserved as they continue to grow, illustrating the remarkable tenacity of life.

To end on something cheerful, here's a picture of us by the Megane (eyeglasses) bridge.

Bairin Koen, One Year Later

2012-03-19T10:54:00.001-04:00

It has been some time since my last post. Matt and I are frantically cleaning and packing, getting rid of things and making seemingly endless runs to the post office. It hardly seems like it's been nearly two years since we first laid eyes on our temporary home, yet here we are, at the end of our run as ALTs. I won't miss the job, but I will miss the friends we made here. Japan affected me deeply and I am grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and travel in this incredible country. There will be time for reflective essays later, when we have toured Europe and are again in the ranks of America's unemployed youth... for now we must continue packing and cleaning.

To keep you busy as you wait for the thrilling conclusion of our world travels (did I mention we have quite the itinerary planned?), here are some shots from this year's plum blossom festival in Bairin Koen. We visited on March 11, 2012, which you may know was the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake. Last year we went to the festival a few days after the quake, still reeling from the physical and emotional aftershocks. It seemed fitting to visit again.

This year the colors were more vivid and spanned the white-pink-red spectrum. Matt, reading the signs on the trees, pointed out the subtle differences in the blossoms. Above is a two-tired flower with two rows of petals and below is a blossom with single-tier petals. It's a small and utterly beautiful detail that I may have overlooked otherwise, because I sometimes spend too long looking at the larger picture. It reminded me that the component parts of a thing are sometimes more striking than the thing in its entirety. I admit this next bit is cheesy, but it bears stating that I would like to look at my life in the coming months like I was able to look at these ume blossoms. I'd like to bring the focus in and see the details.

See you next in Nagasaki! 日本ガンバレ!