We visited Washington, DC in the morning today to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. It was, unfortunately, well past peak bloom.
Continue reading “Past Peak Bloom at the Tidal Basin”Past Peak Bloom at the Tidal Basin
Kagoshima
After waking up at the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka, we took the Shinkansen down to 鹿児島市 Kagoshima and then a local train to Sengan-en Station. From the station, we had a fantastic view of 桜島 Sakurajima, a nearby active volcano that was spewing an ash cloud at the time! We visited the nearby 仙巌園 Sengan-en and had lunch there. We visited 城山公園 Shiroyama Park before having dinner and returning to Hakata.
Continue reading “Kagoshima”Hakata
After checking out of the Courtyard in Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen to Hakata on the island of Kyushu. We visited the 櫛田神社 Kushida and 住吉神社 Sumiyoshi shrines and had some ramen before checking in to the グランド ハイアット 福岡 Grand Hyatt Fukuoka at キャナルシティ博多 Canal City Hakata. Later in the evening, we watched Canal City’s water and light shows behind the hotel.
Continue reading “Hakata”Mount Hiei
After waking up at the Courtyard, we headed over to 瑠璃光院 Ruriko-in for its fall special viewing event. We then ascended 比叡山 Mt. Hiei by funicular and aerial tram. Atop the mountain, we visited the ガーデンミュージアム比叡 Garden Museum Hiei and various buildings of 延暦寺 Enryaku-ji. We descended by funicular to the east and returned to Kyoto by train. In the evening, we attended a special night viewing at 智積院 Chishaku-in.
Continue reading “Mount Hiei”Kiyomizu-dera and the Heian-jingu
After waking up at the Courtyard, we headed over to Kiyomizu-dera to see the fall foliage and the special viewing of the garden at Joju-in. We then had gyukatsu for lunch and headed over to Heian-jingu to take a look around the shrine and garden. We ended the day with excellent parfaits at Gion Tsujiri before walking back to the hotel via Nishiki Market.
Continue reading “Kiyomizu-dera and the Heian-jingu”