Initially, I expected to do one post for both Kanazawa and Kyoto. I had never heard of Kanazawa before, so hadn’t realized how much there was to see in that lovely little town. Everywhere I looked, there was something that was jaw dropping gorgeous.
It was raining off and on, but that minor inconvenience didn’t dampen our enjoyment of the beautiful Kenrokuen Gardens.
Although it was too early for Kanazawa’s cherry blossoms, the plum trees were a brilliant rosy pink, contrasting nicely against the gray skies.
We realized how lucky we were to view the gardens with such perfect lighting. A sunny day would have washed out the contrast.
How does it stay so pristine, you ask? Different cultures have different priorities. The Japanese value beauty, harmony, and cleanliness. Shared spaces are important to them. As you can see, their resources align with their values.
We are lucky that photography is one of Mori’s interests. He was always scouting out great locations for group photos.
One of the many things I love about our group is the way we all look out for each other. Notice how Mike and Bobbi are making sure Cathy doesn’t fall off the bridge. At least I think that’s what they were doing. Either that, or their attempt to push her into the water was unsuccessful.
For one of our “Kanazawa” days, we were given the option to visit Gokayama, which is about an hour’s drive away, up into the snowy mountains. The view was lovely and the gift shop was even lovelier, which is good news for the folks back home.
After visiting this village, we spent the rest of the day making ( and eating) mochi, learning how to make traditional Japanese paper, and watching a traditional dance.
I hope my exquisite creations survive the trip home.
The traditional dance performance was set in an authentic, historic Japanese house. Yes, I know that house had an intriguing history, however, it was so bloody cold in there, all I could think about was getting back on the bus. Sorry. You’re not getting any house history from me.
Mori managed to find us fantastic restaurants everywhere we went, and Kanazawa was no exception. We liked shabu shabu so much, we were delighted to experience it again. This sweet TINY restaurant was quiet, beautiful, inexpensive, and best of all, the food was delicious.
That evening was an “on your own” dinner, so feeling adventurous, Kathleen and Cathy opted for a restaurant with a more esoteric menu.
Before leaving Kanazawa, we split into four groups to visit the home of a Japanese family, where we were treated to different activities, like calligraphy, and origami. Some groups sampled saki and tried on kimonos. The luckiest groups managed to do all of the above.
My group experienced the formal tea service at an authentic tea house. We entered the room the way the samourai did, crawling through a tiny space that we dubbed the “doggie door”.
Here’s Patsy, demonstrating the graceful way to enter the tea room. Like the Samourai, the door’s size forced her to leave all her weapons behind.
We had just enough time before we took the bullet train to Kyoto to visit the shrine a few blocks from our hotel. As usual, the paparazzi was stalking me as I strolled the park.
Some of the group went with Mori to visit the shrine the night we arrived. I was too exhausted, so I was glad that I had time for this early morning visit.
I’ll end with this photo of the Kanazawa train station. and if you think this station is beautiful, you ain’t see nothin yet! Just wait till my Kyoto post!
Destination NOW 