Vacation Time Again

The weather in Texas is about to become cold and rainy again and it makes me want to get out of here. I wish I were going away somewhere on a nice vacation, somewhere I've never been before. About 3 years ago I went to Japan on a tour with the Modern Museum in Fort Worth and had a wonderful time after I got over the terrible cold. A man that was sitting next to me on the long plane ride kept sneezing and blowing his nose and about two days later I came down with the same thing. We were still in Tokyo at the time. We spent about four days there and I missed a a delicious Italian meal!



I felt well enough to go on the tour of the Grand Palace the next day and later that evening to go to a local pearl shop where I bought the most exquisite South Sea pearls for myself at a very low price.

Since it was an art and architectural tour we visited many reknowned buildings designed by Tadao Ando, the Japanese architect that designed The Modern in Fort Worth. The Temple of Light is considered one of his most extraordinary buildings. It is quite small and in a heavily populated neighborhood but once you are inside, the feeling of being closed in goes away and you feel the 'light'.

Japan nurtures it's children, both intellectually and emotionally with special schools and parks. All of the children we saw were well behaved, some coming from school in their uniforms and some younger children playing in private schools and given free reign to create. We journeyed to the Childlren's Museum and to a private school.

As you can see we couldn't resist playing with the toys. Whoever designed the toys was a genius and certainly had a mind like a child. I wonder if he played with these toys himself. A lot of thought to hand and eye coordination went into the planning and making these toys.




At the culimination of our trip for a little shopping in the antiques area of Kyoto, we turned and saw a Geisha ( in Kyoto they are called Geiko) in training called a maiko or apprentice Geiko, perhaps going for a stroll or visiting friends. We were delighted to snap a picture.

In Tokyo a Geisha is not required to have a long training period and may become a full fledged Geisha right away. In Kyoto, the training period is longer and essentially a Kyoto Geiko has more prestige than a Tokyo Geisha.

I hope to go back someday soon, in the spring time, and visit other parts of Japan. Spring is the best time to go to avoid the monsoon season which is incredibly hot and humid. I bought a Japanese language book to study to learn a few words in order to say hello, goodbye and thank you. I can say them but I cannot read them. If I had to travel alone I would be lost. There are no signs in English and of course why should there be?