Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Kyoto first timers

We had a soggy start to our visit in Kyoto. A constant light rain brought out the umbrellas for us and the hordes of tourists visiting temples and shrines. My bent and broken 100 yen umbrella was a bit embarrassing but mostly kept me dry. My favorite part of the day was the unexpected stop at the "World's smallest Ukiyo-e Woodblock print museum". The artist, an old timer, and his wife were smitten with Indy and gave him chocolate coins, a top and a 5 yen "happy coin" in a hand printed money envelope. The artist showed us his wood blocks from his modest work space. He was curious to know where we were from. He told us there is a song in Japanese about Minnesota and chickens?! His wife had indicated earlier with body language (hand to mouth, bending elbow motion) that he'd been drinking. It was a fun and funny experience.

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