The Hofers Take on Japan - Part 1

So last week i was lucky enough to recieve a well timed visit from my parents. They arrived on Sunday, which coincided with the last week of school, meaning lots of random activities like cleaning day and a closing ceremony, which i was lucky enough to avoid! We spent some time in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka. They spent the first nights in Hikone and were able to meet some friends and my J-gparents. So that was fabulous. And thanks to their visit I got to see and do some things i'd been too lazy to on my own.

We spent one afternoon at Kyoto's beautiful Kiyomizudera. Now, while i can't support its campaign to be named one of the "new seven wonders" i will say it was a pretty fabulous, if not all together authentic experience. The street leading up to the temple is called 'Tea Pot Lane' and for good reason - its full of pottery stores. What they dont tell you in the guide books is that its also full of sweet shops and other fabulous touristy finds. We may not have been lucky enough to see the sakura (cherry blossoms) this week, but we tasted many sakura delicacies including sakura mochi (rice cakes), sakura ice cream, and even sakura cream puffs. Yum. Oh, and we saw REAL Geisha. or women dressed as Geisha posing for pictures at one of the biggest tourist attractions in Kansai. Take your pick.


In kyoto we stayed at a traditional ryokan, so my parents got a taste of the wonders of japan - sleeping on futon, wearing yukata, and eating fish and rice and miso for breakfast. It was actually really fun, if slightly less than appetizing.

On to Hiroshima - We arrived in the late afternoon, just in time for me to continue enjoying my horrifyingly-bad-yet-entertaining book instead of enduring the Hiroshima Peace Museum for the second time. I just wasn't sure i was up for the trauma of it all. Luckily Mom and Dad didn't miss it and we met up for a walk through the peace park. It was gorgeous with the warm weather and the sunset. The next day we took the ferry to Miyanjima to see the famous floating Torii, and wound up taking a cable car/hike to the top of the mountain. It was beautiful, but too foggy to render any fabulous photos.

And the next morning it was up and off to Osaka. Unfortunately it was rainy, but luckily our shnazzy hotel is the kind that lends you great big umbrellas, so we rushed off to see Osaka Castle and get some shopping in before our final dinner/drinks/night together. The week ended with a jolt too - while the rents were on their way to the airport i was awoken by an earthquake! Luckily i wasn't near the epicenter so it was pretty mild in my area, but still a little freaky.

In the end, it was a phenomenal week full of sites and tastes and fabulous conversation and fun with my parents. Im so glad to have been able to share this part of my life with them, and look forward to sharing it with more visitors in the future :)