Helter skelter through Honshu

Big day today. I woke early for a leisurely solo bath (opening time 5am) while Anselm in principle slept, before packing up and heading down for our scheduled breakfast at 7. Very delicious: fish and mushrooms to grill, a clam soup, an egg poached in broth, tiny transparent fish to mix into rice, many other tidbits. We went out to see the shrine again at high tide, quite a different view, before heading back to the ferry. We got to Hiroshima by 9 something; internal and external debates have been continuing about whether to go to the Peace Park memorial and the final conclusion was no (this is not someone who needs sensitizing to issues of mortality and war). So we waited for the shinkansen to Himeji.

Himeji is the site of one of the most impressive castles (donjons) in Japan; most of the construction dates from the 16th and 17th centuries. It was a very hot day, but we both had a great time exploring the intricate nested walls and the (cool!) lacy central keep. The interiors were Tudor-like: massive wooden beams crossing white plaster, handsome glossy wooden floors, surprisingly high ceilings. My favourite exhibit: official diary, calligraphy and paintings by the second lord of the castle from the early Edo period. Anselm was entranced by the huge carp in the outer moat-- the same carp that appeared in the paintings.

We jumped back on the train, now for Kyoto, where we arrived at 4 and checked into an unnecessarily elegant but necessarily convenient hotel right in the train station. This gave enough time for Anselm to pay his usual homage to a new room, pass through an energy dip, and to get out again to see the massive forest-edge temples of Kiyomizu-dera. There we wandered, saw the sun sink low over Kyoto from among the trees, drank from the fabled fountain: longevity is ours. We walked down from the temple through the laneways of Gion, past little tschochke shops that greatly intrigued the boy, past a giant statue of Kannon, past a temple festooned with lit lamps, before finding something to eat. We went looking for dessert but decided against the green sundaes in favor of I think a much-needed treat: a chocolate donut from Starbucks. I should say, though, Starbucks here is much better than in Seattle!

Funnily, without knowledge of Arno's recent train of thought, Anselm has been pining in the last two days for another baby. In part, I think he is deeply missing Eliot, but he also really wants to be a big brother again-- I think it's a role he knows he fills well. Interestingly, he gives almost all of the power of choice to me.