We didn't have a crazy itinerary planned for today, so it was a bit of a slower start this morning. We met for breakfast, then headed back to our rooms to pack a day-bag.
There was an adorable construction crew tearing up the street in front of the hotel, so we slipped out a side door to catch our taxi to the train station. They remind me of the doozers from Fraggle Rock with their matching helmets. (I just learned two things... one: there is a muppet wiki, and two: there was apparently a spinoff show about them.)
The Kyoto Tower was looking lovely against the clear sky, as we went into the station.
It was under an hour to Nara on the JR Nara line.
Conveniently, there was a French bakery in the train station, so we got second breakfast around 11 AM.
Having loaded up on carbs for another day of 20,000+ steps, we followed the trickle of tourists from the train station headed into town.
Despite the guide book's description of Nara as "mostly flat", it was indeed another Stairs Day. I'm thinking the binary Stairs classification might be inadequate, and we need a five-point rating system.
Thankfully, we've been training for this sort of thing for the past five days, so we took it in stride.
At the top of the stairs, our first stop for today was the Kōfuku-ji temple complex.
One of the reasons people visit Nara is for the friendly deer, cousins to the ones in Miyajima, but we didn't expect to find them this far into town. (They are supposed to be in Nara Park.)
The few that had made the journey to the temple just strolled around as if they were quadruped, furry little tourists.
Not far past the temple area, we found more of them in a park next to the Kohfukuji National Treasure Hall (museum). The deer in Nara have learned (been taught?) to bow, presumably with the expectation of a reward, in the form of a Deer Cracker.
It seems to have worked; there were dozens of deer training people to feed them in exchange for a deferential bow. A few of the deer were definitely trying too hard, which was awkward.
Unlike in Miyajima, where (I think) it's illegal to feed or touch them (not that it stops people), in Nara both of these activities are not only permitted, but encouraged.
The Wikipedia article on Nara Park claims there have been hundreds of people injured by deer, per year.
One must assume that they operate in shifts, and these actors have had their fill of crackers for now.
Most of the male deer had smooth stumps where their antlers used to be, but a few had outright horns.
Michael and Sarah bough a pack of deer crackers from the official vendor cart and quickly discovered that that's an easy way to make new furry friends. They're not stupid, and once they realize who has crackers, they follow people around.
I stayed outside the fence, by the street, with a horrified Sabrina (she is allergic to essentially all mammals).
After running out of crackers, we continued past the park to the Isuien Garden to get our daily dose of calm.
It was one of those days where it's just a little bit too warm for a jacket in the sun, and a little bit too cool to go without one in the shade.
We did a slow lap through the garden, visiting this old shrine on the way out, and then walked around the corner toward the Great Buddha at Todaiji temple.
There were more deer, of course, on the way. They not have been doing as well in the cracker game, as some of them were trying to eat steal chains.
The Grand South Gate was impressive, especially because I somehow hadn't noticed it until we were directly in front of it, what with being distracted by chain-chewing deer.
Inside the gate, the main temple dominates the horizon.
Everyone was taking selfies, so it seemed like a good place to take one. This is almost always the reason I take these shots.
According to the Wikipedia page that I just read, the Great Buddha statue weighs about 550 tons.
This huge structure has apparently been rebuilt several times, at least two of which were due to fires.
Along the back wall, there's an old scale model of the complex, including two pagodas that are no longer present.
Spring has definitely sprung, inside the outer walls.
This is now my current favorite sign from this trip. More Deer-Related Injuries Are Occurring!
Outside the temple, we stopped for a snack; it was almost 1:30 PM, and we were debating getting some actual lunch.
The return trip to the front gate was like running the deer gauntlet. We were being shaken down for crackers, and formed a defensive formation around Sabrina; it felt like we were her Secret Service detail.
This poor fool learned the hard way that flashing three fat stacks of crackers to the herd is a good way to start some trouble. They were head-butting him in the butt as we walked away, chuckling.
On our stroll back through town, we happened upon a craft brewery that also had some food.
The beer was quite good, and the food really hit the spot.
After lunch is when the story gets complicated. My sister's brother-in-law lives just outside Osaka, and Sabrina and I had plans to meet him for dinner in Osaka around 6 o'clock. Even with the train travel time to Osaka, we had a few hours to spare before dinner.
Sarah and Michael had had enough of us for today, so passed on visiting Osaka. They headed back into Nara to see some more sights, while Sabrina and I rode the Kinsetsu line west to Osaka. I'm not sure what our friends ended up doing this evening, as we haven't seen them yet.
We switched from the intercity train to the subway at Osaka-Namba station and rode up to Umeda, where we struggled through a maze of attached buildings and pedestrian walkways to find our way back to the fresh air.
Our goal was to ascend to the top of the Umeda Sky Building for a bird's-eye view of the city.
It was a bit complicated to find the way up to the Kuchu Teien Observatory, involving several escalators, then a 30-something-floor glass elevator ride, then an escalator through a glass tube over several hundred feet of open air.
The view from the cafe at the top was stunning.
Somewhat concerningly, it also afforded a clear view of the storm clouds rolling in from the west.
The views got even better when we discovered the stairs leading to the rooftop observation deck.
Again, this was the view that everyone was using for selfies. Why mess with a good thing?
In a concession to the tourists who insist on attaching love locks to things, this attraction decided to capitalize on the trend: they not only provide a dedicated area to express your bond via lock... they also sell the locks downstairs by the cafe.
These are the up and down escalators for getting to/from the cafe level from the top of the elevator, seen from above.
Same escalators, from below.
This couple seemed very out of place.
After concluding our visit to the Umeda Sky Building, we hopped back on the subway and returned to Namba station, where we were meeting my sister's husband's brother, Sam.
6:03 PM, and it looked like we might just time this perfectly.
We met Sam at the agreed-upon time, in the agreed-upon location. After a brief chat, we settled on a dinner venue and fought the rush-hour crowds, all trying to beat the rain somewhere.
We eventually found the sign for Torikizoku, an Izakaya restaurant (sort of like a pub that serves Japanese tapas) and climbed the stairs to the second floor just as the rain started in earnest.
There's a touchscreen kiosk for ordering everything at each table. We ordered what felt like an endless string of small plates, including plenty yakitori-style meat-on-a-stick options, and a few beverages to wash it all down.
After a few hours of scintillating conversation, during which we learned all sorts of interesting things about my brother-in-law, we called it a night and returned to the train station in the rain. Sam was joining us for the first bit of our trip, as his route home coincided with our subway ride up to Yodoyabashi Station where we all changed to the Keihan line.
Sam needed a local train, so we parted ways and hopped on some sort of express train. On the way out of Osaka, we got a brief look at Osaka Castle lit up for the night.
We rode the Keihan back up to Kyoto, taking almost an hour but enjoying the convenience of the very short walk back to the hotel (instead of a taxi ride from Kyoto Station).
It was cold and rainy as we turned in for the night.
We'll catch up with Sarah and Michael over breakfast, and hopefully figure out what we're doing tomorrow.
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