Japan Adventure

The afternoon sun is beginning to light up the brightly-colored 5-story pagoda on top of a hill. Beautiful!

Deer who still has horns. Most are trimmed off to protect tourists.

Itsukushima shrine during high tide. The whole shrine appears to float over the sea.

Further along, a deer patiently waits for his Kirin beer???

Oh we always have to stop at the roasted corn booth for a couple of ears that are roasted and seasoned with soy sauce - oishi! (delicious!) There are also many other things on a stick . . .

Looking across my bike to the open shops beyond.

Stan about to enjoy his roasted corn.

Interesting statue in a shop.

Margie near a bridge up the hillside. This is always the most beautiful area for autumn leaves.

While I'm taking photos around the bridge, Stan takes a walk further up toward the Ropeway, and takes this picture of an old stone stairway.

View of small stream below & bridge post.

Prayer beads in a pine bough?

Amazing autumn colors . . .

Detail shows different colors on each leaf . . .

Beautiful colors along this bridge.

Deer browsing peacefully near a small stream below the bridge.

I LOVE this sign! "10 min walk (7 if run a little!)" One of these days, we're going to go up to the Ropeway to the top of Mt Misen, but not today.

Pretty entrance at a building.

Large ginko dressed in autumn yellow.

Grandfather helping . . .

Where you exit Itsukushima Shrine. We didn't go through here today, but we have many times. It's always very peaceful and beautiful. This is one of the places that Larry & Lisa prayed for another baby when they came to Japan. Andy was about 18 mos, and the twins were born about a year later . . . Read more about this shrine and Miyajima RIGHT HERE!

Look at this pine tree! It must have been cut off & regrew with many trunks instead of just one.

Biking over a small bridge.

There's a beautiful white egret down there.

View of the torii as we bike along the seawall. The late afternoon sun really lights it up!

Closer view of Floating Torii gate in full sun from Miyajima Island. I think it's most beautiful when the tide is in . . .

Stone stairway leading into the sea.

Views of the shrine and pagoda as we bike around Miyajima Island. This area is so sacred that no one is allowed to be born or to die here, although there are many permanent residents.

Old and new.

Riding along a shopping area.

Petrified tree that's full of coins - maybe for good wishes?

Unusual stone lantern with crescent moon design. I don't think I've seen this before.

Riding around on a very narrow street, we found a coffee shop & decided to go inside to get warm. It's late afternoon, and starting to get chilly. This place had the most beautiful wood supports everywhere and we were told it's a VERY old building, but recently redone into a new coffee shop. Great idea!

Stan thought these were lamps, but upon closer observation, I noticed they were cakes (in pans with hole in center) resting upside down on bottles to cool. (I used to do this when I baked in bundt pans) I guess they bake their own sweets here . . .

Their equipment was very fancy & modern, and of course each cup was freshly brewed from fresh-ground beans.

Stan had espresso & caramel cake (with whipped cream).

I had latte and (of course!) chocolate cake, with whipped cream and roasted nuts. Delicious and very satisfying.

Stan spied a small stairway in the corner & asked if he could go up. (It's always good to ask, because sometimes, this is where the proprietor lives!) Here's a view of the street below from a window. This area of Miyajima is all VERY old and still traditional.

He really liked this sculpture and couldn't wait to show me these pictures!

Huh . . .

Looks like this area is set up for large parties.

Yikes! This makes me dizzy! Stan took this looking back down the steep stairs. I didn't go up . . .

Back downstairs on the coffee bar, there are more fresh cakes cooling. You can't even imagine how good it smells in this small place with fresh ground coffee beans and steaming sweet cake!