I'm not at all contemptuous of
comforts, but they have their place and it is not first. -E.F.
Schumacher, economist and author (1911-1977)
Hi Sarge!
I gather you enjoyed
a great haul from The Naramata and environs! Have really been on a
whirlwind last few days, ever since leaving Hiroshima. Time in Kyoto and
Maibara, (nearbye), with Toshi at the family home, (second home,
"cabin"), of Naomi, the auditor of the company she works for, and his
wife, Meiko, and then back to Kyoto again, yesterday, (Shinkansen,
Bullet Train trips of only an hour or so, were simply remarkbale. The
temples and shrines in both places, many that we saw are desognated
World Heritage sites, are stunning in their beauty and quite different,
in terms of garden style, architecture, etc. We are taking the train
into Osaka around 10:30am this morning to have a lunch at Tomiko's
cousin's yakatori restaurant. Tokio has very kindly offered to host a
party for about 15 relatives. His daughter Ayako, is Toshi's second
cousin and her husband, Takao, runs the restaurant with his
father-in-law. Gorgeous day here as I see is the case in Vancouver as
well.
We head into Tokyo tomorrow morning, about three hours
with local connections, etc, where we will stay for three nights. Leave
quite early Thursday morning to be back in Vancouver at 1:20pm, in time
to go for a ride to Seymour Demonstration Forest while Chloe vacuums!
Cheers, Cora Lee and Patrizzio!
Hi June!
So glad all went so
well with your visit to Vancouver and environs. Terrifc that you found
your old school! I did the same a few years ago, In Elliott Lake,
Ontario, where we moved after leaving Cyprus, in 1959. Yes, sorry that
we won't connect this time around. You'll simply have to return!
Has
really been on a whirlwind last few days, ever since leaving
Hiroshima. Time in Kyoto and Maibara, (nearbye), with Toshi at the
family home, (second home, "cabin"), of Naomi, the auditor of the
company she works for, and his wife, Meiko, and then back to Kyoto
again, yesterday, (Shinkansen, Bullet Train trips of only an hour or so,
were simply remarkbale. The temples and shrines in both places, many
that we saw are desognated World Heritage sites, are stunning in their
beauty and quite different, in terms of garden style, architecture, etc.
We are taking the train into Osaka around 10:30am this morning to have a
lunch at Tomiko's cousin's yakatori restaurant. Tokio has very kindly
offered to host a party for about 15 relatives. His daughter Ayako, is
Toshi's second cousin and her husband, Takao, runs the restaurant with
his father-in-law. Gorgeous day here as I see is the case in Vancouver
as well. Hope Tofino weather has cooperated.
All the best. Enjoy last bit of time in Vancouver and then in Rockies. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Morana!
Trust you are well. Yesterday, Ayn, our daughter in LA, reminded us that
it was, in fact, the Victoria Day Long Weekend, first long summer
weekend in Canada. (One simply loses track of time after a while. Each
day seems just like another on the travel roller coaster!) By chance, we
enjoyed Victoria Day at the Victoria Hotel, a booking made some time
ago. We dined at a lovely Chinese restaurant, (Cora Lee claimed she
needed a break from Sushi this and Sushi that, mainly the pickled
vegetables, I suspect!), about two minutes away, near the entrance to
the fairly large Chinatown here. Gorgeous entrance gates and attractive,
colourful metal dragons overhead along the narrow streets of the
precinct. Apparently, according to Coramandel Steves, the Chinese had a
very early influence in Japan, here, following the Portuguese and Dutch
when foreigners were allowed in. At the moment, my local guide is
snoring gently, resting her foot, which still acts up, particulary with a
lot of walking, for the busy tour of the city's highlights to come! We
plan to buy a one-day tram pass to get around the city, a comfortably
sized place with very friendly inhabitants, based on the people who have
gone well out of their way to help us when we've asked for directions.
Time to make another hit of java, (Starbucks Instanto sticks purchased
in Tokyo as emergency rations!), and sip it from our multi-purpose
tea/sake cups!
Cheers, Coriandre "Rick Steves", broadcasting, semi-live, on location in Japan, and Patrizzio, her trusty, underpaid Sherpa!
Dear Patrick,
Your travels sound lovely and I must admit I'm super-envious. Australia
and Japan have always been on my must visit list, but I'm afraid I'll
have to wait for quite some time to muster the money necessary to travel
to that part of the globe. Are you putting some photos up somewhere?
I’m a big photography enthusiast and I’d love to see all these wonderful
places, although reading your e-mail also gives me quite a good feel of
what it’s like.
Zagreb is all work and work as always. Andrija and I took some days off
at the end of April to attend a friend’s wedding at the coast, so we
enjoyed some off time on the beach and visited our cousins. I’m planning
of taking a short vacation at the end of June – again a short trip to
the seaside or maybe paying a visit to friends who recently moved to
Vienna. We still have no idea where to spend our big two-week vacation
at the end of August. I wanted to go to Greece or Egypt, but we’re quite
budget-challenged, so I guess this fact is going to bear the most
weight in making the final decision.
I’m looking forward to hearing some more about Japan when you come back.
I’m a big admirer of Japanese culture and actually tried to enroll
Japanese studies some time ago, but did not get in on the first try and
second time around I was already finishing college so I was too late.
Arigato for the lovely e-mail and hope to hear form you soon.
Love,
Morana
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