Today was a trip highlight for Brittany, which made it all the more fun for me. I had planned on going to a large bamboo forest outside of the city but figured it was time for Brittany to scour the guidebook and see if anything else sounded more interesting. We settled on visiting a city called Nara, which was less than an hour away by train. I had already read about this place but wasn't all that excited about it, which is why Nara wasn't on the itinerary. I'm so glad Brittany changed my mind! We spent an amazing day there, even though things started off a little rocky... After a trip to the post office to mail postcards (a new record of 14; my wrist still hurts) and an easy train ride, we got off the JR at Nara Station. There were plenty of signs in English so it was immediately clear that this is a major tourist site. I grabbed one of the maps. On the west side of the city was a "palace site". On the east side were temples and a huge park of tame deer (which I'm sure is the real and only reason Brittany wanted to come here). We decided to start at the palace site and work our way back through the deer to the temples. According to the fancy tourist map in my hands this would be a pleasant stroll of a few blocks. Great plan, right? NOT! The three blocks to the palace site actually turned out to be about 45 minutes of hoofing it, all to wind up at what "was at one time" the site of a major palace. Sure there was a beautiful reconstruction of the main gate, but I didn't come all the way to Japan to see some stinkin' reconstruction! Now, when Brittany tells this story, she will pretend that she knew all the time that the palace was very far away, and that I simply didn't listen. This is false. I assure you my account of events is one hundred percent accurate. I think. Our first hour in Nara was a bust, but it got really great from there. Once we took the train back to where we started and headed for the east side of town, there was so much to see that we really didn't have to use the map. We just walked along and stumbled onto beautiful temples, buildings, and pagodas. They all have striking names but I honestly don't remember which is which or even how to spell them, so, in the future, they will simply be referred to as "that really cool bunch of buildings we saw". One area had a five story pagoda and two large octagonal buildings. When I see these structures all I imagine is a small group of Japanese men looking at some big trees, then their tiny pile of hand tools, then each other, saying, "let's imagine the most exquisitely complicated and difficult to assemble building possible and...build it". Good idea boss! Just outside of this first complex was a large group of what we later realized we're hundreds and hundreds of deer. These things are more tame than most house cats. They walk right up to you, begging for the crackers that vendors sell all along the street. You quickly give one a cracker, thinking, hey, I've got a whole stack of these things. The problem is that the deer ALSO knows you have a whole stack of them, and will aggressively bite your jacket or head butt your leg until you surrender said crackers. Brittany had a great time though and I've got about four hundred pictures to prove it :) Small shops and food stalls lined the road to the next temple, where we were totally creeped out by a weird cartoon kid that resembled a Buddha with antlers growing out of his head. It was disturbing enough that I had to do the research, and quickly learned that this genetic anomaly is the Nara mascot, introduced in 2010. Apparently even the locals got the heeby-jeebies from this thing and its debut was boisterously protested. His bald head and stubby antlers will haunt my dreams for months to come. As the sun began to set we made our last and greatest stop: a massive temple built around an outrageously large Buddha. Thanks to many, many wars it has burned down several times over the centuries. It's about 33% smaller now than it was originally, and yet is still the largest wooden structure in the world. I didn't realize just how big it is until we got inside and looked up to the ceiling. The interior is one very large room, which gives it a cavernous feel. In the middle is an ornately decorated Buddha that extends all the way to the top, surrounded at the base by engraved lotus flower petals and flanked by smaller floating golden Buddhas. It was a very impressive sight, and the shockingly large timbers used to keep everything from crashing down added a feeling of weight, strength, and purpose. As most buildings here are Buddhist they are typically just wood with some patches of white paint here and there. I have to admit that I find the vermillion Shinto shrines much more appealing to look at, but this particular one had size on its side. As large as the temple is, we didn't need much time to walk through it. On the way out we discovered that there is a free bus that constantly circles a loop and stops at every major site, originating at the very same train station we had stood in that morning. All the fares we had paid up to right then (at the end of the day) were for nothing, and have to be added to the "stupid tourist tax" tally. I sure am glad I haven't really kept track of that dollar amount because I'd probably get tragically depressed if I did! haha Our last adventure in Kyoto came when the almighty Google told us to get on bus 206 to get home. We thought this was odd because we have always taken a train to get home, but hey, you don't argue with Google. And so we sat in line, calmly waiting for our bus as little doubt gnomes sat in our brains saying "I thought you were smarter than this". A full twelve seconds into the bus ride our fears were affirmed and our doubt gnomes laughed haughtily as the bus hurtled in the complete opposite direction of our apartment. Ugh! We were both tired and wanted to go home but we used this little snafu as a reason to visit Gion (the Geisha district) on our last night. The bus took us right there, and we spent an hour walking up and down narrow, beautiful streets of wooden-front homes and restaurants. Brittany was really hating the cold after a while so we finally settled on a place to get dinner, just before she became an ice pop. I'm sure I've heard of Yakitori before but I really had no idea what it was. We were seated at a small table next to a beautiful outdoor garden and a young couple who were laughing so hard at each other's jokes that there was no doubt they were on a first date. We selected around fifteen different yakitori from the menu, which were either pieces of meat or vegetables grilled on small skewers and brought to the table as they cooked. We kept it pretty tame, mostly going for chicken and mushrooms, but I had to step outside my comfort zone at least a tiny bit considering where we were. I got a skewer of liver (from which animal I have no idea) and quail egg. The liver was really not that bad, but I'll admit I have no desire to try it again. The quail egg didn't frighten me at all until it came out with the shell still on. It looked like the chef had literally grabbed two eggs out of a nest, poked them through with a skewer, and grilled them up. I had to psych myself up a little bit before popping one into my mouth, but the shell was actually very salty and disappeared quickly once you started chewing. Even Brittany didn't mind it, and I loved that she was willing to give it a try. Stomachs full, we again put all hope and faith in the almighty Google and got on a bus. This time our faith was rewarded and we got home with plenty of time left to stream some Office episodes. We're sleeping in tomorrow before heading to Hiroshima, and I know I'll really miss Kyoto. They keep things clean like you wouldn't believe. On our way to the post office this morning we actually saw a guy VACUUMING THE STREET GUTTERS and a taxi driver feather-dusting the roof of his car. If that's not commitment I don't know what is! Tomorrow should just be a long boring travel day, so we'll see if anything merits a blog entry or not.