My vacation!!!!

So, I just got back from my first loooong vacation from Nova. I climbed Mt. Fuji, stayed in Kyoto for four days and went to Osaka and Nara for a day.

Kyoto is THE cultural center of Japan. It was the old capital before Tokyo, so all of the traditional things of Japan are here. There are over 1800 shrines and temples!! Of course I knew there was absolutely no way to see that many, so I found the major ones on the map and rented a mountain bike for two days. It was incredible! There is just so much to see and do, that it's true what all the travel books say: you need at least two months to see everything worth seeing in Kyoto. So, I'll just let these few pictures speak for themselves.

I wasn't planning on going to Osaka on my trip, but I met another Nova teacher, Mehgan from Boston, on my Mt. Fuji adventure. She lives in Osaka, so she invited me there and took me to a Mexican restaurant! Before meeting Mehgan, I went to the Umeda Sky Building, which overlooks all of Osaka. I got there before sunset and stayed up there until a while after just looking at the sea of lights. It was really breathtaking. Osaka was very intimidating for a Carter County gal, but I made it half a day on my own, so, I think I did okay!

Nara was the first capital of Japan and everyone said I had to go see the huge Buddha there. I wasn't really interested, but so many people suggested it and it's only about fourty minutes by train. I am soooo glad I went. This Buddha statue was built in the year 710 and it is massive! It really is amazing to look up at it. I included the picture with people in it so you can see in proportion just how big and bizarre this thing is.

Unfortunately, I had a very harsh disagreement with my camera after climbing Mt. Fuji, so I don't have any pictures of that. So now, the only physical thing I have from that, which is one of the most incredible experiences of my life by the way, is a small bell they give you when you reach the top. Oh well. I've cried my eyes out dry about my pictures, so no need to dwell on it anymore. ALTHOUGH IT IS COMPLETELY DEPRESSING!!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo, I am so grateful that I had another memory card for my camera and I could get plenty of shots of Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. So here they are...