November 14, 2025

Rain, sleet, snow, ice was what we left behind in Stowe as we made our way to Montreal for the night on the 11th of November. Up early to get a 9 AM flight to Vancouver and onward to Kyoto. After a somewhat restless nap on our day flight across the Pacific we arrived at our hotel, Noku, in Kyoto around 8 pm. Beautifully decorated in the Japanese style, we inspected the toilet and tried out the various options from heated seats to the bidet. What we couldn’t figure out, with all the various buttons, was how to flush the damn thing. As I was about to ask Google, Shap found the handle on the side of the counter, a bit of a distance from the toilet. Go figure that one.

Today, Friday ? Really? We are going to bed as you guys are sound asleep. Right now as I am writing this at 4:41 PM it is 2:41 AM in New York. So confusing.

Breakfast was interesting. I decided to try the Japanese breakfast which started as miso soup (very good),salmon and on to Japanese eggs, a tiny rectangle of yellow that tasted sweet. No idea what that was. Lots of pickles and mushrooms. Nothing weird to speak of, no one swimming in my miso that shouldn’t be.

We decided to walk to the Textile Museum with a stop at the Imperial Gardens on the way. A tour of the palace was a surprise, as I thought it was closed. Seems no one was up before 11, as there were few people out and about til we got to the palace at 11. The crows or ravens, not sure which as I could not get a close look, circled from tree to tree around us, while talking amongst themselves with the loudest caw. They fascinate me. Name the bird below, we found him wading in the water, is he heron? Could he be a crane, I don’t think so.

Another long walk to the textile museum with a wonderful display of old and new looms. Having been a weaver, I was blown over by the intricacy of the designs, silk threads, patterns and the threading of the looms which were so complicated. The museum part showed various woven silk exquisite designs. From there to a shop, Aizen Kobo, that is located in a back street. The history is interesting as it was once known for the delicate tedious finger weaving technique that produces complicated relief brocade patterns. Women would file their fingernails into 5 grooves to be able to push the weft threads tight against the woven material. They used their fingers instead of the comb. As there was less demand for these kimonos in the 1920’s the father of the now owner, decided to go in the direction of folk art and began indigo dyeing fabrics. Today they are world famous with many of their clothes in museums such as the Albert and Victoria museum. Kenichi Utsuki, the current owner, taught classes at Columbia. The building is over a century old and has been recognized as a Cultural Asset.

Heading back to the hotel, we stepped into the shrine of the warthog. Who would make a shrine to a warthog. I will have to look that one up. There was a wedding ceremony happening so we took pictures. Check out the head dress on the bride. Don’t think the groom is going to do any kissing of the bride at the end of this ceremony. Seems Shap and I are always crashing weddings, so far in India, Romania and now Japan.

Thirteen thousand steps and more to go today. Enjoy some of the pictures.