Kamakura
On our last weekend-roadtrip before his departure (next weekend is filled with Goodbye Parties and Birthdays), Riccardo and I chose Kamakura and the Amida (?) Buddha. We left Friday night and found a lovely Love Hotel at about 1:30am. Thankfully check-out wasn't until 11am.
After viewing some beautiful shrines and gardens, we hiked along a mountain to the Buddha. The hike was supposed to be 2.2 kms, but I think it was closer to three, since we hiked quite a way before the "Buddha Hike: 2.2 kms" sign appeared in the woods. Thankfully the forest was quite cool and the ups and downs of the path were nicely staggered with flat portions.
After much Buddha-viewing (from outside and in), and even more people-viewing (Japanese women, particularly, who love to site-see in stilettos), we headed for the beach.
After viewing some beautiful shrines and gardens, we hiked along a mountain to the Buddha. The hike was supposed to be 2.2 kms, but I think it was closer to three, since we hiked quite a way before the "Buddha Hike: 2.2 kms" sign appeared in the woods. Thankfully the forest was quite cool and the ups and downs of the path were nicely staggered with flat portions.
After much Buddha-viewing (from outside and in), and even more people-viewing (Japanese women, particularly, who love to site-see in stilettos), we headed for the beach.
Kamakura is South of Tokyo, on the Pacific Ocean and we heard before we left that it is home to a fabulous beach. We were quite surprised by the fabulousness of the beach, and glad to have come prepared. After some body-surfing and sun-bathing (in the late-afternoon, cloud-covered sun) we played some badminton. I'm pretty sure I can kick Riccardo's ass at at least one sport! Yippee!
Home again, home again. We dined at Jolly Pasta and were happy to find garlic toast on the menu. We were also happy to find that Toyko wasn't a gongshow of traffic, despite our early evening starting time. We tried our luck through Ginza (a very affluent shopping district and high-society part of Tokyo) and were not disappointed. I even spotted the Tokyo Tower through the sky-rises, but sadly, couldn't get a good shot.
Saturday we fell into bed, utterly exhausted, at about 2am. Thankfully we had all of Sunday to do absolutely nothing. Our absolutely nothing consisted of reading, laundry, Shogi, SIMS and card playing, and Sushi Ondo dinner.
Thanks for the fabulous weekend baby!
Okay, so these three statues you mentioned represent Amida (past), Shaka (present)and Miroku (future).