Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto
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A number of short trips have taken place over the last couple of weeks. We stayed relatively close to home with only one over night. We explored in Kobe, in Osaka, our neighboring city, and we returned to Kyoto as it is so filled with sights and activities that we needed to continue our exploration.
Kobe has a suspension bridge, the Awaji Island bridge, which is purported to be the longest suspension bridge in the world. It has an observation deck that is about 50 meters above the bay. The observation deck is below the road-bed, so every time trucks would drive over the bridge it would rumble and jump, sounding not unlike an earthquake. I was a bit nervous being above the bay, but below the highway. Neither Nate nor I would walk across the glass portion of the walkway. But Nate did lie on the wooden walkway.
In Osaka, we took a ride on one of Japan’s huge ferris wheel. The views of the city, a huge, sprawling, relatively uninteresting one, were great, despite the haze. We also visited the aquarium. It focused on the ecosystems around the Ring of Fire, and was nicely designed. It boasts having a whale shark in captivity. It was interesting but sad to see such a beautiful creature in captivity. The aquarium certainly didn’t rival the Monterey aquarium, but the exhibits were unique and we did see deep ocean flow crabs that were amazingly prehistoric.
Our return to Kyoto included visiting one temple, a museum and Japan’s own version of Universal Studios. We went to the Nanzenji temple, which is known for its shrines in a forested hollow and a beautiful aquiduct. We were looking for the waterfall where pilgrims pray while standing underneath. Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain during this year’s rainy season, the waterfall was a mere trickle. But the bathing area and all of the shrines in the woods and in caves made the hike worthwhile.
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