Shinkansen, Kyoto, Nara

The buddhist monks built the building around this tree because they believed that the tree is more important than the building.



Noh theater (Noh is older than kabuki)




purifying before entering

breakfast at Starbuck's...they're everywhere...(and yes, that is a green tea latte)

making a wish

On Wednesday we hopped on a train from Fussa to Tokyo. Unfortunately there was an accident somewhere up the line and we were delayed just long enough to miss our train in Tokyo. Luckily we were still able to get on the next bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto...just didn't have our reserved seats anymore. Then we checked into our hotel in Kyoto and then caught another train to Nara where we had a guided tour. We saw 'Big Buddha", pagodas, deer (there about 1200), and beautiful gardens lined with many stone lanterns. We were pretty tired by then so we decided to skip the 11 torches festival (which people were getting to 4 hours in advance).