Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mary arrive...

This week Grandma Horrocks, Grandpa Jack, and Aunt Mary arrived in Japan for their visit. They were originally supposed to arrive on Wednesday, but due to a number of complications (one involved being given a key to a hotel room that was already occupied by a dude in bed) they didn't arrive until Thursday evening. They were able to successfully ride the bus from the airport to Utsunomiya where I met them. Kathy was surprised to see me waiting for them at the station..

After arriving at the car I had everyone pose for the official arrival picture. They look pretty alert for running on little to no sleep..

We went to Genki sushi for our first meal out. The chopsticks were a bit of a challenge, but everyone was able to eat enough to be satisfied. On Saturday we loaded into the car and we went for a drive in and through the mountains. The first stop was a temple along the road on the way to Nikko.

Kate, Kathy and the children were invited in for a prayer ceremony. They all said it was interesting to sit and watch. I only heard the chanting and drum from the outside as I straggled behind and was not invited in. While waiting I took a picture of the huge iron water bucket. These are popular at the temples and I am told they are used in the event the temple catches on fire. They are filled with water by gutters from the temple roof.

Next stop was the temple in the mountains with the koi pond. I took this picture on the way in, I believe it is a guardian of the temple.

I really enjoy the gardens at this temple. It is so well taken care of and peaceful, the mountain setting just adds to the beauty.

We also drove on Irohazaka to get up to Nikko Lake. This whole area is very scenic and one of my favorite areas to go. Currently the traffic is not so bad, but I have been told that next month everyone will start going to Nikko to see the leaves change colors. When that happens it can take more than 2 1/2 hours to get to the top. To put that in perspective it takes me less than 1/2 hour to ride my bicycle to the top.

We drove past the lake and stopped at a foot onsen for everyone to enjoy the invigorating hot spring water on there feet. It really does relax the feet for the rest of the ride.

This time we discovered that the heat varies depending on the pool and location that you sit at. Liam selected a really hot bath and Kate and the children picked the hottest spot in that one. It was too hot for me. My location was hot enough to make my feet red and leave a red ring around my leg.

From there we decided to head for dinner. I am not exactly sure why, but the town of Nikko seems to shut down supper early. After trying unsuccessfully a number of times to find an open restaurant we finally discovered a Korean restaurant that was open. The menu looked like we could find something for everyone so we went in. We were the only people in the restaurant, which can be a bad sign, but in the end we were pleasantly surprised. The food was really good and the owners were so nice.

They invited us to stay and watch TV with them, but we were tired and ready to get home. We asked them if we could take a picture and then we were on our way.

Sunday I was out the door at 6:00am to go on a bike ride. I got back around lunch and then we headed to Utsunomiya. The first stop was Utsunomiya castle. The original grounds were built in the 11th century (1001-1100AD) The one standing on the grounds now was reconstructed in the 1800's. There was a cutaway showing the construction on the ground floor. It must be a tremendous amount of work to make a wall like this. There are something like 11 layers of building material in each wall.

After looking at the display we took an elevator to the top so we could walk around and view the grounds. The facilities are staffed with volunteer workers. They were so nice and really went out of there way to walk us around and explain things to us.

This image is of the turret building. I believe it was where the weapons were stored.

It is funny, I just found out about this castles existence last week. I stumbled on it in a book and decided we should give it a go. Even though 3/4 of the grounds are no longer present what is there is interesting to see and the staff was so friendly I will plan to take other visitors there to see it.

Next stop was Futaarayama shrine. It is the big shrine in Utsunomiya city. This shrine is somehow affiliated with the shrines at Nikko. It was made about 1600 years ago. Nothing says the original burnt down, so I am assuming this is the original..

While sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds we decided to feed popcorn to some of the pigeons. There was popcorn all over the ground for them to eat, but the size was big and they were having trouble eating it. Myself and the children broke it up in our hands and fed some of the pigeons.

It is always interesting to look at the woodwork at the shrines. Typically the carvings are elaborate and many are put together without nails. I really liked this one so I snagged a picture while waiting for everyone to finish.

When we finished walking around we decided to take everyone to what we have dubbed the junk store. It is a kind of recycle center and if you take your time and walk around it is possible to stumble on to some really cool things. We spent at least an hour at the shop before going to dinner.

For dinner we first tried to go to the Okanomiyaki restaurant, but it was too busy. We finally decided that Kazan (ramen shop) would be fun to go to. The ramen at this shop is placed into heated stone bowls, as a result when you get the bowl it is recommended that a placemat be held in front of you to prevent burns.

Here is the initial pour into the bowl.....

And an instant later....

Since the stone bowl is so hot the liquid in the noodles continues to boil for minutes after the liquid is added. The bowl also keeps the food hot while you are eating. I think the experience was enjoyed by all.

That wraps up this post.

Have a good week.