japan- part three

this post is going to be loooong- i'm covering one of our favorite days on the trip, and it was so hard to narrow the photos down to even this many!
we did a tour in kamakura, where we saw some really beautiful things and enjoyed being "on our own" (in a tour!) in japan.

 this was our funny, super-nice tour guide, hiro. we loved how he would repeat things twice, and how he held up a hello kitty flag for us to follow him, "like baby ducks"!

when we got to kamakura, we had some time to shop, and the very first place i saw was a studio ghibli store! (more about that here)-- i was so excited! there was SO much to choose from, and it was hard, but the crazy expensive price tags helped me to control myself.

 this was the shopping street, and the scene of mr. o's (arguably) favorite thing on our trip- surely his favorite food. we found a little vendor that was dipping fresh big rice crackers into soy sauce (or some sort of teriyaki sauce), and each got one. it was SO yummy! little did we know that was our only opportunity!

 and here is our first shrine! it was really pretty, and we were excited to see some traditional japanese architecture up close & personal.

 there were several smaller shrines, and one main one. shrines are part of the shinto religion, or tradition.

 a prayer wall. 

me on the steps of the main shrine.

 these stairs with torii gates were so pretty, and relatively quiet compared to the crowded main areas.

 loved the fox statues!

 even the ditches were pretty. i heart mr. o's photo skillz.

 we got some cute candy for the boys at a booth outside the shrine. they were these little spiky balls, but they pretty much just tasted like table sugar.

 after the shrine, we had a rickshaw ride- it was totally fun, but also kind of embarrassing. have you ever had one? it makes me feel bad for the poor guy who's pulling us! and everyone on the streets look at you, and i feel so lazy!
we met up with the rest of the tour at the train station, and went on to a buddhist temple.

 before entering, it's customary to wash your hands and mouth (you spit the water out) and then spill some water over the handle to clean it for the next person.

 and here is the HUGE bronze buddha statue- it's over forty feet tall! it's super old, and has been covered by numerous halls, that have all been washed away/destroyed by tsunamis. it's been in open air since 1498!

after eating (sort of) a traditional japanese lunch, we headed to our last stop, which was another beautiful shrine.

 the gardens at this shrine were breathtaking! we took so many pictures of the flowers, i'm going to have to do a whole separate post of just those!

 there were countless little statues there, but this one reminded me of my three boys! cute, right?

 here is the main shrine. there was a giant golden goddess idol inside (no pictures allowed), it was amazing.

 here was another statue in a little shelter on a trial at the shrine.

 this was part of the gorgeous view at the top of the trail. i was really excited to see the other side of the pacific ocean!

 i think this was a cemetary. there were just so many of these little statues all around a tiny courtyard, with a view of the ocean behind.

i think this functioned as a library, this really ornate wooden device turned around, and had some really old texts inside (from what we could tell!).

another pretty garden. this is what i imagined a japanese garden would look like!

can you see the countless statues lining all the levels of this wall? they were rows deep, too! all the way up.

this was the train we took back. our tour guide pointed out the photo-op, but mr. o was the only one who took advantage. he turned around afterwards, and we were looking at him, and some indian ladies on our tour laughed- "yankees and trains!". so funny!

a cute little store in the train station. i would've loved to go in, but it's probably for the best (if you look at it from a financial point of view!) that we didn't have time.
our tour guide was super nice and took us as far as roppongi, the district where ryan & jen live (and showed us how to buy train tickets in the process). we walked home from the train station, and were super proud of ourselves for finding the way! it made us feel lots more confidant, and independent.
we had a great day, and really ate up the sightseeing. what would you want to see in japan?

see more here and here!