Kamakura

Here we are on the train to Kamakura. Hanna's first time on the Japanese rail system...I think she liked it.

The Tori gate at the head of the Sakura (cherry blossom) walkway in Kamakura that leads to Hachimangu Shrine.

This stone bridge is fenced off on either side because only samurai are allowed to use it. The lily ponds were crazy. We could hardly tell there was any water it was so thick with pads.

Ethan was a little wary of mosquitos hiding under the leaves.

More tori...

Hanna at the shrine on top of a long long staircase.


The boys' favorite part of the day - feeding the koi fish in the ponds! Some of them were monsters, just huge!

More entertainment included Japanese school kids feeding the pigeons and trying to get them to land on their hands and arms to eat.

Of course, as soon as the flock of pigeons would gather Jared and Ethan would run roaring right into the middle of the bunch and scatter them. The Japanese kids thought it was great. They wanted to touch Ethan's hair...even though it was minus curls.

Why did the turtle cross the road?
We asked but he didn't even answer! Maybe he only speaks Japanese...

After Hachimangu Shrine we ate lunch at McDonalds - we couldn't find the ramen shop we were looking for and I didn't feel like eating anything fishy. Then we went to buy tickets to see the "Daibutsu" or Great Buddha. Unfortunately we couldn't figure out which train line would take us there so Scott asked a nice looking lady with a little boy and it turned out that although she was Japanese they were from Washington D.C. (visting her parents here in Japan) and spoke English perfectly - she was so helpful...she bought us the correct tickets and told us how to get to the right station. So after that we got on the Enoden train line and off at the Hase station (which it turns out is just a couple of blocks from Yuigahama Beach) and found our way to the Great Buddha - a towering bronze statue - the second largest in Japan.

Outside...










Inside...

Underneath...

And forwards...




Oddly enough, while we were at the statue the most interesting thing we saw was a group of people completely absorbed in watching a squirrel....