NARA TO KYOTO TO YOKOHAMA

Our stay in Nara was, well, nearly perfect. Yesterday, we did not see a cloud, so the sunlight enhanced the oranges and reds. Today, it was cloudy all day, on our train rides from Nara to Kyoto to Shin-Yokohama to Yokohama Station.

But about Nara, we did not expect much, but it was the highlight of our Fall Colors visit. While the cruise was fine, Hokkaido was a disappointment, which largely carried through in Tokyo and Nagoya. Then everything got better and better.

Need to show a couple more photos I missed enclosing yesterday. First, we saw a persimmon tree where you couldn't count the number of fruits. What is your estimate?

That was in Nara Park. Secondly, Nara has all that history and religiosity, but is today mostly a sprawling city. While Nara Park is truly a national treasure, the city itself is nicely symbolized with this photo.

You say, why? See the middle of the above photo? Then target that religious middle.

In essence, that has happened because of "progress" and "infrastructure." Nara itself has totally lost any spirituality. Still, worth a see.

If you're planning to visit Nara, the hotel of history and character is Nara Hotel.

Five stars.
Located on a hillside overlooking Nara Park.
Opened in 1909.
Designed by Tatsuno Kingo, the sensei of numerous famous architects.

Emperors, Sergei Prokofiev, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, Richard Nixon, Joe Dimaggio, Marlon Brando, Nehru, Pope Paul Vi, Yul Brynner, Audrey Hepburn and the 14th Dalai Lama have stayed there. Amazingly enough, this is a photo of Einstein playing a piano at this hotel.

This link shows that it would cost you $186/night today. The J.W. Marriott is $279/night. Then if you are at a certain level, you wil have access to an excellent Club Lounge. At one time this hotel had no rooms available, so we signed up for the Fairfield, another Marriott place...for $98/night. Was it worth paying three times more? Yes, if you are a Platinum member.

So the day started with breakfast at the JW Marriott.

Noticed more hats and caps at breakfast.

The shuttle took us to Nara Station, where we were bade goodbye by my Blue-Bar Pigeon.

The rapid train from Nara to Kyoto. If we caught the local train, we would have missed the Shinkansen.

Green Car on the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shin-Yokohama,

Had a great bento meal with sake and beer.

Took this photo of a mountain with snow in case we missed Mount Fuji again because of the weather.

But, aha, Fuji-San.

Sometimes the scene is marred.

This interval only lasts around 3 or 4 minutes.

Then a couple minutes later, a final aloha.

Made it to Shin-Yokohama, and caught our third train for the day to Yokoyama Station, where the Sheraton Yokohama Bay is located. Had a light dinner with Johnny Walker Black Label on rocks, Suntory Beer and champagne.

What a good day. Walked 4148 steps.

We have a free day tomorrow.

HONOLULU TO SEATTLE

The story of the day is Hurricane Milton, now a Category 4 at 145 MPH, with a track that has moved further south and the eye projected to make landfall just south of Sarasota. Good news for Tampa, which is 73 miles north. Milton will crash into Florida as a Category 4, and is huge, so a lot of problems can still be expected in Tampa Bay with storm surge. If the eye had crossed into the state just north of Tampa, the damage would have been catastrophic. Milton is a fast-moving storm, currently at 17 MPH, so as bad as the rainfall will be over Florida, again, a blessing. The eye will make landfall around 10PM EDT today, and will move into the Atlantic Ocean north of Palm Bay Thursday morning. My first trip to Seattle was in June of 1962 just after I graduated from Stanford University. Caught a bus. Was called the Century 21 Exposition . Also the Seattle World's Fair. 10 million joined me on a six-month run. My first. These a...

OSAKA EXPO: Day One

Well, the day finally came for us to go to the Osaka Expo. We were told ahead of time that the long walks would be fearful, giant lines will need to be tolerated just to get into the Expo, with those ocean breezes, it would really be cold, and so forth. Maybe it was pure luck, but we avoided all the above warnings We had a grand day, and are looking forward to Sunday, our second day at the Expo. So come along for an enjoyable ride. Our hotel is adjacent to the Tennoji Station, a very large one with several lines. We upgraded our Suica card and caught the Misosuji red line towards Umeda. Transferred to the Chuo green line at the Hommachi Station. This Osaka Metro train took us to the Yumeshima Station at the Expo site. It was a very large mob leaving the train and heading to the entrance. Took only a few minutes to get to the entrance. This mob was multiplied by at least a factor of ten of those already waiting to enter. However...

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A JAPANESE HIGH TECH TOILET

Did you know that Oktoberfest in Germany is mostly in September? The very first day of Oktoberfest 2021 was supposed to be today, September 18, extending into October 3. Well, as in 2020, Oktoberfest was cancelled. So why is it called by that month when it is held mostly in September? The first celebration in 1810 was in October. Did you also know that Oktoberfest is held only in Munich? These days seven million drink more than a liter ( about three typical cans ) of beer each, costing around $11. Except for my wife and I when we followed the crowd to board the S-Bahn to the fairgrounds near Old Town. It was drizzling a bit. We bought a large pretzel outside of a typical barn where beer is served. We did not know that you needed to get this inside the hall. So no one came to serve us beer. After a while we decided to have lunch, and the restaurant we settled on only served wine. Thus, we might have been the ...

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