Excursion to Kamakura

Even though rain was predicted for Tuesday, I had to take advantage of my day off.  So armed with a new umbrella- much sturdier, and wearing a good many layers, I set off to Kamakura.  I enjoy taking day-long excursions outside of Tokyo, not more than an hour's commute by train (and only one transfer) I arrived in Kamakura at around 11.  The day was grey and cold, but I still got to see some wonderful tree foliage and I was lucky that it warmed up, and rather than rain, the sun came through in the afternoon. 

I started at the typical temple sites and shrines.  One thing I was looking forward to was the hour-long hike through the wooded mountain ridge-line to reach another large Buddha statue.  The trail was slightly muddy, very hilly and also completely empty! I enjoyed the wet-forest smells and the bird sounds and not another soul around! 

 At this particular shrine, there was a large stone surrounded by a pile of broken pottery.  On the side was this note, and a stack of new pottery plates.  So to overcome any obstacles in my life, I threw the pottery at the rock and it smashed into many pieces.

There were several middle-school student groups visiting Kamakura today!
Of course these students took tons of pictures, and anytime Japanese set up to take pictures the photographer will say "se-no, hai, chee-zu!" For 20 yen, you could go inside the hollow Buddha, slightly claustrophobic, and crowded, but worth the few moments needed to endure it!

Kamakura is near the ocean, so I walked down to the beach later that afternoon and felt like I was back in California- just like the Monterey beach-it was weird!!



I had a delicious tofu burger- girls, take note! There is a "Freshness Burger" cafe in Tokyo too!
Ingredients: toasted sesame bun (smaller than the burger), avocado guacamole, teriyaki sauce, tomato and a beef-steak sized slab of grilled tofu!