Saying goodbye

It was a wonderful three weeks, it flew by, and indeed I was dreading their departure with every fiber of my being.  Before they left dad celebrated his birthday, and I took them to one of our favorite places, Showa Park.

Happy Birthday Grampa!

Tea house overlooking the pond

Thank you for coming Mom and Dad...

Please come again!

Kyoto, November 2014

Our last stop on our road trip through Japan brought us to my favorite city, Kyoto, no trip to Japan is complete without it.  Here are some of my favorite photos...

Fall colors starting to show...

Golden Pavillion

Grumpy Stanley

beautiful colors

bamboo forest

Miss popular

Soba noodles at a street vendor

elaborate getups

I can hardly look at this picture without getting a sick feeling.  Audrey was lost here for 30 minutes, in unbelievable crowds.  Beautiful but nerve wracking!

geishas everywhere

the real deal

amazing hair

Old City

Ochanomizu for supper

delicious!

Kyoto Assembly

lunch

Heading home, we were exhausted, but I got this priceless picture of dad and Audrey!

What a trip, but what great memories!

Kyushu

Kyushu is one of Japans four main islands.  The second atomic bombing, just three days after Hiroshima, occurred in Nagasaki in August of 1945.  We had actually wanted to go to Mount Aso, a very active volcano, instead of Nagasaki while here, but alas it was TOO active and you were not allowed close to it at all.  So we went to Nagasaki, and the small rice town of Yanagawa while here.

Hello Kyushu

Yanagawa has miles and miles of canals going through it, and considered the little Venice of Japan.  These canals were used for transporting rice, and have been preserved for tourists to enjoy via canal boat.  The town inself is not very atttractive, and while driving it thought this place was surely not worth our time.  But we were soon proven wrong, and enjoyed a wonderful morning relaxing along a canal lined with willow, cherry, ginko and bamboo trees.

The boat trip was beautiful, and almost 2 hours long.  The children were antsy however, and I was ready to move on.

Nagasaki Peace Park

A rather gruesome memorial to children

Part of an old Catholic church

At the exact spot where the bomb denanated

11:02

fat boy

Scars on a survivor

some long lasting memories of Kyushu very well may be horrible horrible traffic in Nagasaki and Fukuoka

and maneuvering extremely narrow two way streets...lost...

Was it worth it?...yes...did I accumulate even more gray hair?...most definitely.

And might I add while writing this my 6 year old is editing my work, for spelling and proper punctuation.  And she has been correct.  I guess I am tired.