The Roscoes Do...

What a day!  First stop was coffee at a really good place on the way to the metro station. Then, on the way to our train, we smelled something SO amazing we had to stop. It was a tiny shop in the station that sells Belgian waffles. Maybe the best waffle  I've ever had. So already a great day! Our destination: Fushimi Inari-taisha, one of the most famous sites in Kyoto. I believe this was built in 1499? Pretty impressive  This is the "main shrine" - close up of the details The famous gates (confession: this is the real reason I wanted to visit) Little paper kimonos We decided to hike to the mountain top, the trail took us through a beautiful forest with tall bamboo spare rocks?  Now we can see the tops of the bamboo. Fluffy! When you can't read Japanese But then you find another sign in English Ok, so the mountain top was a little disappointing, it wasn't views from the top but rather a fla...

Our last day in Tokyo was beautiful - We started off the day right with the breakfast of champions at the Tsukiji fish market: sushi and beer at 8:00am, and only had to wait in line an hour before getting in!  The Tsukiji fish market is the largest wholesale fish market in all of Japan and one of the largest, if not the largest in the world! I unfortunately didn't take any photos of the fish market, so you'll just have to take me at my word that it was smelly but cool. **** Next up: Bullet train to Kyoto! Here are some photos from the Tokyo Station and train ride: Ok so that was exciting. After the bullet train took us to Kyoto Terminal, we took a 30 minute cab ride to our hotel, then went for a walk around in a park nearby and the main street with all the restaurants and shops and etc. Kyoto is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It is the old capital of Japan, and the population (UN Data, and as of 2010) is 1.474 million. The hotel is away from all the hu...

Sunday, October 25th We wandered around all day long! First order of business: coffee. Glen found a place called Little Nap Coffee Stand so we walked there and got cappuccinos on our way to Shibuya: a neighborhood/ward very popular for shopping and eating. I didn't take as many photos today, but here are a few: morning view from the hotel Strange store (we probably should have, but did not go in) Cool shrine or something  REALLY good coffee Just a side note that I really like this coffee place Cute tiles on one of the streets near the shopping mecca by Shibuya Station

Saturday, October 24th  A lovely Sabbath in Tokyo - lazy lunch and tea, then a stroll through the park, and then dinner at the home of a friend of Glen's for a typical home-made Japanese dinner.  LUNCH: Sei tea: rose petals, dandelion and some other things I don't recall Dumpling in red bean soup  Glen at lunch   YOYOGI PARK: The park is pretty close to the hotel; it was a half hour walk maybe. Once inside the park, you're surrounded by huge, leafy trees.  It's a really peaceful place  DINNER:  This has been a highlight of the trip for us so far: Glen's friend Shogo and his wife, Miki invited us to dinner and made us a typical, multi course Japanese dinner. Not pictured was teriyaki chicken, green salad topped with grilled steak, a whole fish for each of us, homemade decorative vegetable sushi roll, and ice cream. Also they have adorable kids!!  Chicken wit...

Friday, October 23rd 2015 Glen is off to work (poor Glen); Michelle is armed with 2 lists of places to visit, one subway map, 2 maps of Tokyo neighborhoods, one "Handy Guide" - the official tourist book for Tokyo, one pamphlet recommending restaurants, one tiny, stuffed purse, and one awkward camera-in-its-case. It's gonna be a good day. Off to work  With the maps First street sign Another! Subway  Ok I'll stop with the signs Artsy photo because I'm artsy Park near Tokyo Tower Street in Shibuya  More to follow tomorrow! Cheers M

Completely forgot to post about the Feast of Tabernacles & Atonement (oooops) So, we spent Atonement in Toronto with a few of the members there, which was lovely, as was Toronto itself. View from our hotel in Toronto Look at us being cute.  From Toronto, we flew to Colorado, and kept the Feast in Estes Park. Here are some photos:  Charlene and Glen in town Very sporty (thanks Charlene for the photo!) With Bill at the New Belgium Beer Brewery in  Fort Collins So cute!  Rainbow one day Elk Colorado was nice because: it was the Feast, we spent time with family, also LOVED catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a while from all over!