will it ever get warm?

hoping for a warmer week.  mother nature is taking her time this year.

sock-monkey man is now 7 months!

our little fatguy is growing up so fast!  brady, now at seven months:

pictures of paris coming soon.

for the grandparents

brady enjoying what remains of storm nemo.

japan day 10 -- kyoto and kennin-ji

i haven't forgotten about my last full day in japan.  here we are exploring kyoto, a lovely city full of historic goodness.  i heard a story somewhere that america spared kyoto from its world war II bombing campaign because a senior government official had spent his honeymoon in kyoto and loved it.  if you get a chance to go, read memoir of a geisha beforehand and stay in gion.  and when you see a real-life geisha, it'll feel like you've been transported in time.

sidewalk along the canal (the shirakawa river) 

the canal with a blue crane (right)

shinbashi street

hanami-koji street

hanami-koji street

courtyard of kennin-ji

no shoes in the temple

ceiling of the main hall of kennin-ji

kamogawa river

pete and i bid you adieu until paris later this month.

japan day 9 -- nara: kasuga-taisha and kasuga-yama primeval forest

the nice lady at the tourist information booth didn't specifically circle kasuga-taisha on the nara walking tour map.  i only knew to visit because i read somewhere on the internet about the kasuga-yama primeval forest and i told pete that this place is my must-see in nara.  it got me at "primeval".  and i'm completely fascinated by old-growth forests.

and the forest was truly lovely:  old gnarly trees, thousands of lanterns lining the paths, moss growing freely over stones and the sound of our feet on gravel.

kasuga-taisha is a shinto shrine that was built in 768.  it's a real beauty and known for its 3000 lanterns, 2000 stone lanterns and 1000 hanging bronze lanterns, that represent the 3000 kasuga shrines in japan.

this tree (left) is so old, see the description below

japan day 9 - nara: todai-ji

if there is one historical place to visit in nara, todai-ji would be it.  it's quite breathtaking and its scale reminds of me the feeling i had when i first saw angkor wat.  some quick facts about this temple:  while todai-ji is the largest wooden structure in the world, its current width is 2/3 of the original structure.  the original temple burned down twice, once in 1180 and again in 1567.  the buddha inside is the vairocana buddha, is made of bronze and is the largest one of its kind.

pete in front of today-ji and me leaning against a column at the gate into todai-ji
do you like my leg warmers?

incense in front of the entrance to burn for good karma

the vairocana buddha or daibutsu (in japanese)

daibutsu (left) and an accompanying buddha statue (right)

on the right, i thought the japanese cypress columns were just plain cool and impressive