This weekend was packed full of adventures for the Monticello-fam. On Friday we made our bi-monthly visit to Babies ‘R Us. While we were there we picked up some bedtime books, a few small things, and a crib protector (thing-a-ma-jig). I had to get home early so I could rest up for my trip the next day.

Saturday, I was up at 5:30am and off to Kyoto with a few of my friends here. We took the train from Nagoya Station and arrived in Nara at about 8am. From there we fed the deer, that were everywhere along the national park and temple grounds. I guess deer are sacred animals here, so we bought some biscuits and posed with them. After taking some funny pictures and checking out the big pagoda, we moseyed on down to the Todaiji Temple (the largest wooden structure in the world). This big guy houses a massive Buddha about 50 feet high, and some really cool wooden carvings. After walking around the temple grounds for awhile we headed back to the station so we could finish up the day in Kyoto.

First we had to get some eats, but after that it was off to the Kyoto Temples. On our ascent up we manged to find some geisha chillin outside and using our ‘foreign good lucks,’ we were able to snap a few pictures with them. Then we continued our climb towards the temple, and when we reached the top, got a nice view of Kyoto. I really enjoyed the little cobble-stone streets, full of restaurants, Japanese souvenir shops, and little Buddhist shires that dotted the area around the city. It is a beautiful city, full of little treasures and I definitely will be going back to visit again before I leave.

There are tons of pictures from the trip, check’em out here:
Photo Set
Slide show