This travel company, Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), takes pride in having you participate and interact with local people. The noodle making/lunch in Hakone was an example. Today we are sent off in small groups to meet and drink tea with a local family. We arrive by taxi at a typical two story, tiled roof home, a few miles from the city center. Mr. Fujio Nakagawa greets us warmly as we take off our shoes and go upstairs to the music room. Fujio speaks excellent English so we have a very pleasant conversation and learn about the family. He and his wife, Yoko, have lived in the house over thirty years and they now have their daughter, son-in-law and 3 year old granddaughter living with them. The music room has two pianos because the daughter is a professional musician and gives piano lessons.
Fujio is retired for quite a few years but has taken up a second career giving guided tours. He also has been doing calligraphy for most of his life and proceeds to make us each a small poster with characters for harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Yoko comes in with tea and we discover she is a retired teacher but now teaches classes on ikebana and traditional tea ceremonies. We get a tour of the house, which is quite cluttered, and find it large and typical. Bedrooms, family room, kitchen and dining room with the difference being the toilets are completely separate from the bath. When you think about it, this makes sense and goes along with this cultures love of warm, soothing soaks. (Maybe Lindsay should move here! She loves a long bath.) The master bedroom has been turned into a traditional tea room with tiny separate kitchen, built in gas fire and lovely tatami mats. The sleeping futons are rolled and stored in the closet, something I didn't think was done anymore. Because there is no central heat in most homes, the family room floor is heated---lovely. And, finally, because Sheila asked, we are taught how to prepare and properly drink powdered green tea. Interesting!
Back to the hotel in the rain and we get ready to leave for Kyoto. Our lunch at an Italian restaurant is sad although the green salad is delicious. Off to the train station for the two hour trip to our next destination. It is raining off and on and I spend most of the time folding cranes and talking with fellow travelers. As we get close to Kyoto and are passing huge Lake Biwa we see a full rainbow, a delight!
Kyoto is another big city and we have to take 4 taxis to get the group to the hotel. Saeko is rather frazzled by this experience but we all arrive safely and check in to the small but modern hotel. Small, meaning the rooms are a challenge to find space for your suitcase.
A little rest then off in taxis to a small neighborhood Japanese restaurant where we are served a delicious dinner in a traditional bento box. Fun and tasty as I'm getting used to these small but numerous dishes.
A little rest then off in taxis to a small neighborhood Japanese restaurant where we are served a delicious dinner in a traditional bento box. Fun and tasty as I'm getting used to these small but numerous dishes.
The group elects to take the subway back to the hotel and, even though it is sprinkling, we get some good exercise and learn the Metro system. This one is fairly easy as it only has two lines and we find we can change the language on the ticket machine to English!
It's late and been a long day so I upload my photos, look at Facebook and fall asleep.
It's late and been a long day so I upload my photos, look at Facebook and fall asleep.
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