We have a new found appreciation of cherry blossoms. We always knew they were pretty, but until you spend time in Japan during cherry blossom peak season you don't comprehend how entrenched this special time is in the Japanese psyche. Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, meaning everyone holds picnic parties under cherry blossom trees. There is an incredible variety in the blossoms from white ones over light pink to dark pink, from weeping cherry blossoms to ones that grow in bunches. Everyone - even the locals - stop to take pictures and appreciate their beauty. We loved them too!
Apart for cherry blossoms we had an awesome time in Kyoto looking at all the temples - Kiyomizu-dera, Ginkaku-ji (or Silver Pavilion), Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle and my all time favourite Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion.
We joined a couple of walking tours - one during the day which took us around little workshops (rosary, fan- making and pottery) and one in the evening through Gion the Geisha district. It was fascinating getting a small glimpse into live in Kyoto, especially learning about the devotion required to go from Maiko (Geisha Apprentice) to becoming a real Geiko. The girls all live in boarding houses, are not allowed mobile phones (not befitting the image as we were told) and are only allowed to get their hair done once a week, so to keep the hairdo fixed for a week they sleep on neck rolls. They have to go to school everyday to practise and learn the traditional Japanese arts and normally in the evening they give performances to guests. Once they 'graduated' to Geiko they will have more flexibility over their schedules. The BBC did a little documentary on becoming a Geiko which is worth seeing. Tourist girls often dress up in Kimono's to enjoy the sites of Kyoto :). Joining one of the nightly performances at Gion Corner allowed us to see some of the skills all Maiko/Geiko are trained in - a great way to catch a glimpse into the otherwise secretive / enshrouded in mystery world of Geisha's. We captured some of the art-forms below on video.
The food was amazing (it always is in Japan) and Ian's 36th birthday dinner we had in a steak house which we discovered a couple of days earlier after one of our tours on the coldest day we experienced for a long time. The forth video below is when Ian gets his birthday present and not quite getting what it is :)
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