Osaka Spa World, Kyoto, Gion Matsuri

Spencer wants the computer and I want to do a post, so this one will have to be quick. No video uploads today, more pics, few comments.

July 10th...."Happy Birthday To Hannah...." We no longer have an 11 year old. Her birthday party and present was a day at Spa World. The building is divided by zones. The women go to the Europe Zone and the men to Asia. Everyone gets down to their birthday suit and away you go!

For dinner, we found a Mexican Restaurant. We all had been craving some chips and dips.

Yummy nachos!

Guacomole made at the table.

"Tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu!"

July 13th We had dinner at our friends' home before they departed for a vacation in Michigan. Mary, Maya, and Ren helped us to navigate the grocery store and cook some local dishes. We miss them already.

July 14th (Thursday) We headed to Kyoto. Checked into our hotel, New Miyako and met a new friend, Jane Ward (a friend of Jim Smith's from childhood).

This is Gion Matsuri time. A huge festival in Kyoto. So Jane helped us to get ready to take to the streets for the evening.

Amy and Hannah bought yukata (summer kimono) and had our hair done by the guy on the left.

The salon overlooked the main street, so you can see one of the parade floats from the window.

The yukata style is to pad the body to bring out the waist and front so that their is no hourglass shape.....as if Amy wanted layers of towels to create a flat side and front....not the most flattering style on me....darling on Hannah!

Spencer got in on the action in his jinbei (informal yukata for boys, men, and young women). Jinbei is usually worn in the home or for summer festivals.

Here's a festival game........I didn't want to catch crabs at a Japanese festival!

Beautiful fruits dipped in a sweet glaze.

How about some squid on a stick.........where's the turkey legs, cotton candy, and hotdogs?

July 15th (Friday) We headed to Fushiminari Shrine. A shinto shrine in honor of the god of rice. The fox is the symbol of the messenger of the god to the people.

Thousands of torri gates line the mountain side.

Your family name is placed on a gate when a contribution is made to the shrine.

The greater the contribution = larger gate!

"Kinkakuji Temple" or the Golden Pavillion for the afternoon.

 Spencer and Hannah duck into an art gallery for a free woodblock print lesson.

Flying Sushi for lunch.

So we ended our Kyoto trip to a Japanese Movie Theatre for the opening weekend of "Harry Potter." Hannah was thrilled and it actually put a spring in her step.

What a foreign experience in a movie theatre. Assigned seating....complete silence..nobody left to use the bathroom...nobody went to the snack counter once the movie started, and when there was silence in the movie, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre.