2018年11月30日金曜日 - 
Kyle: Himeji Castle
My parents
were in town last week, from the 5th to the 12th. I was a little nervous before
their visit - neither of them have done much traveling outside of the United
States, and I was worried that they would find Osaka a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, my fears were
completely unfounded; they both seemed to
immensely enjoy their time in Japan.
During the week that they were
here, my parents and I split our time between Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Himeji.
We briefly visited Kobe, but only for a quick meal to satisfy my father's near-obsessive need to eat Kobe beef "straight from the source". He liked
everything he ate here - from famous foods like ramen and sushi to
things uncommon in the US, like natto and mentaiko. My mother
developed a healthy appetite for okonomiyaki - she's promised to make it
for me the next time we see each other. They both loved onigiri, as
well.
Of course, any time not spent
eating was consumed by sightseeing. We visited a variety of beautiful sites
across four cities. The highlight of the week for the four of us, I think, was
Himeji Castle. I had never been there before, so I appreciated the fact that my
parents and I were able to visit it for the first time together. It was
wonderful to see such a well-preserved,
well-cared-for example of old Japanese architecture - and at such a great size!
Walking from Himeji station to the castle was incredible by itself - a long, straight
walk towards an immense castle, growing
larger and larger with each step. Seeing the inside of the castle was my
personal favorite part of the day. Such excellent craftsmanship. On a side
note, a trip to Himeji gave us a great reason to take a bullet train (shinkansen),
which I always love doing. My parents were very impressed as well, and came
away bemoaning the absence of such a
train in the United States. Even better,
we ended up on a Hello Kitty-branded train, much to my father's delight.
overwhelming：圧倒される
unfounded：見当たらなかった
immensely：非常に
near-obsessive：執着にも似た
straight
from the source：産地直送の
well-preserved：保存状態の良い
immense：広大な
bemoaning：嘆き悲しむ
Even
better：更に良いことに