Our Japan Trip: Nara

We packed up our bags and left Yokkaichi on the morning of July 9th--the day of our eighth anniversary.  We then took three different trains to get us to the city of Nara where we spent the next few days.  Since we were celebrating our anniversary in this town, we had decided in advance to stay in the fancy and famous Nara Hotel.  It was finished in 1909 and has beautiful woodwork everywhere in the hotel.  Here is a picture of the stunning entrance.

The grand stairs leading out of the lobby.

A shot of the ceiling and chandelier above the hotel lobby.

The piano that Mark Twain played on in the parlor.

Our quaint room when we first checked in.

Ron relaxing in our room.

After checking into the hotel, we wandered around the hotel's beautiful grounds for a bit before heading into town.  Here is a picture of the scenic bridge found on the hotel grounds.

We then walked into town to the famous Nara Park--known for its deer that wander all over.  We stopped to take a look at the five-story Pagoda found in the park.

Ron and I with the pagoda in the background.

We stopped and watch some men writing kanji in a little building on the park grounds.

We walked around for quite some time looking at some other buildings on the grounds.

Me standing in front of the three-story pagoda that is also found in the park.

Ron and some of the deer.  The wild, yet very tame, deer are the reason why this town is quite famous in Japan and the number one reason why tourists come here.  It is fascinating to see them freely roaming all over this giant park.

A close-up picture of the deer.

A large buck staring me down.

 After wandering through the park and a shopping area called the Arcade, we returned to our hotel room for the rest of the afternoon.  We then ventured back out for the evening to celebrate our anniversary.  We walked through a very quaint, traditional district called Naramachi looking for a place to eat, but every menu was either in Japanese or too pricey.  So, we left this cute district and headed back to the shopping area to find a reasonably priced restaurant to eat in.  

These elegant lanterns hung all over the town.  I loved how they looked at night all lit up with the deer silhouettes on them.  Here is a picture I took on our walk back to the hotel that night.

We left our hotel on the morning of July 10th to go on a walking tour that Ron had found in our guide book.  Here is a picture of one of the many deer crossing signs that are all over the city.  It's just the funniest thing to see something like this in the middle of civilization instead of out in the mountains!

The walking tour took us to the Yoshikien Garden which is a very traditional, Japanese garden complete with a tea house.

The tea house and me.

Ron and I in the garden.

From the Japanese garden, we walked through a very quaint neighborhood before entering the compound of the Great Buddha.  First, we admired the Nandai-mon--the main, massive entrance leading to the Great Buddha.

The deer we passed that were scattered all around the compound.

Next, we came across the Todai-ji which is the largest, wooden building in the world built back in the 8th Century that houses the Great Buddha.   

A shot of the Great Buddha inside the building. 

Ron and I in front of the Todai-ji.

After leaving the Great Buddha, we walked up a large hill through another traditional, Japanese neighborhood to the top where we found a great view of Nara below.    

After lunch, we continued on our walking tour...past stores lined with deer.

And through a beautiful hallway lined with Japanese torii.  I love this picture.

The walking tour ended with a walk through a forest full of shrines and stone lanterns.

We found a deer standing perfectly still between two, stone lanterns.  Just amazing!  After our walking tour finished, we headed back to our hotel for our daily afternoon nap before spending our last evening in Nara wandering around the city and eating a dinner at our a restaurant where the sushi arrived on a conveyor belt.

On the morning of July 11th, we packed up and left the stunning, Nara hotel to head to our final stop of the trip:  Kyoto and Osaka!