City: Boston, United States
Sight: Skinny House
What is your favorite sightseeing destination and why?
These free walking tours are waiting for you in Boston: https://visitsights.com/sightseeing-tours/United%20States/Boston
#Boston #Attraction #Travel #Sights #UnitedStates #Sightseeing #Tourism
My wife went with me to Sakura no Miya near Ōsaka Castle where the river is lined by sakura cherry trees. The Ōsaka Mint (大阪造幣局の桜の通り) by the river features several varieties of sakura (most of these photos).
I was concerned that the need for a mobile phone barcode to enter the Mint could exclude most foreigners. This was the only crowd control I've seen this year. If they do that in Kyōto with constant loudspeaker warnings, people won't find the peacefulness they came there for.
My wife looked up the Ōsaka Mint Website on the spot and got the barcode, so we could get in. She took some photos of me, so you can see how I look in my old age, shortly after the catheter operation that fixed my irregular heartbeat. I could walk for over four hours, feeling great since returning home!
Open access publications: https://japanned.hcommons.org
A basic walk in Kyoto is from the Kawaramachi Station area along shops to Yasaka Shrine, then Maruyama Park (first photo). But instead of turning right toward the traditional shops along the slope and reaching the world heritage temple Kiyomizudera, I sometimes turn left and go along the slope to Chion-In (other three photos), the national head temple of a Pure Land Buddhist sect. Pure Land Buddhism has the most adherents in Japan, and this is a very large-scale temple for parishioners and members nationwide, rather than a sort of outdoor museum or monument like Kiyomizudera and most other major tourist attractions.
Everywhere in Kyoto and other prefectures is gorgeous during the fleeting cherry blossom viewing season, so any walking route with a lot of cultivated nature is rewarding to experience now.
I've just retired from 40 years in Japanese higher education. I'm happy, however, because I'm completely healthy. I just had a catheter operation that fixed the irregular heartbeat that was concerning for several months.
I still belong to the EU-Asia digital partnerships grant project, and a long presentation on Japan to students from California is scheduled for May.
I'm already back to outdoor activities, as you can see with these photos of sakura cherry blossoms in the castle ruins park near our house.
„Der Fluß krümmt sich, doch sein Ziel vergißt er nie.“
~ Verfasser unbekannt ~
: 04/2013 F.loki
10 Classic California Road Trips to Drive in Your Lifetime via Afar [Shared]
California is, hands down, one of the best places in the world for a road trip. It’s the third largest state in the USA, and its 164,000 square miles are packed with varied terrain highlighted by some 66 scenic byways. Along the 865 miles of coast, road-trippers will meander by remote beaches and sheer cliff vistas as well as lively urban beach communities, such as Santa Monica and Venice in Los Angeles or laid-back La Jolla in San Diego. Inland, rocky desert landscapes give way to rolling farmlands, and two-lane highways carve through quiet groves of towering sequoias before climbing into the high, rugged peaks of the 352 mountain ranges.
#california #travel #road #roadtrip #driving #sightseeing #sights #nature #outdoors #mountains #coast #desert #shared
(there's so much more to come 
) After the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx we visitid the #StepPyramid in #Sakkara. I think that was the only time where we were almost completely alone. It was early afternoon and the temperatures were rising, but still in managable regions in the mid-twenties. It was magical and utterly silent, because this pyramid is far awy from everything else and to me it felt as if it's already the middle of the desert. Sadly, we didn't have much time to soak up the atmosphere because we were on a tight schedule towards the next sight 
I've been taking care of our older son, who is in his mid-30s. You might think it would be the opposite with his old man, but this is Japan, and unconditional love can appear one-sided. He is an IT manager in Tōkyō and can work mostly from home, or from our home. Since he has been living in such an urban environment, I took him on a nice nature course in northern Kyōto City from Kitaōji along the Kamo River quite a distance north, to the great shrine Kamigamo Jinja, and then to the Kyōto Botanical Garden (京都北部の北大路駅↬鴨川沿い↬上賀茂神社↬京都府立植物園). In all we went over 12,000 steps, and our son also conked out when we got back.
Publications on Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org/japanology
Kitano Tenman-gū (北野天満宮) in northern Kyōto City is a major Shintō shrine combining national treasure architecture and plum blossom viewing at its best in these photos. Please enjoy the humor of the last one.
1) the torii gate to enter the sacred space. 2) Pink plum blossoms. 3) Mini-shrine to a kami god. 4) Caught in the act ... of sniffing plum blossom fragrance. Some Japanese people do it, too, really!
The bamboo forest, mountain lookout, and other attractions of Arashiyama were all awesome to my guest visiting Kyōto (嵐山、京都).
#Japan #Kyoto #Arashiyama #travel #sightseeing #nature #bamboo #river #bridge #culture #photos #photography
Publications on Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org/japanology
City: Jerusalem, Israel Sight: Syriac Church of St. Mark
What is the most adventurous sightseeing tour you have ever taken?
Check out more sights in Jerusalem: https://visitsights.com/sights/Israel/Jerusalem
#Jerusalem #Sightseeing #Amenity #PlaceOfWorship #Israel #Christian #Travel #Sights #Religion
Town: Paris, France POI: Fontaine Wallace
Do you like to travel solo or with a group on a sightseeing tour?
These free walking tours are waiting for you in Paris: https://visitsights.com/sightseeing-tours/France/Paris
#Sightseeing #Sights #Travel #Paris #France #Artwork #DrinkingWater #Amenity #Tourism
My American professor friend fortunately likes the rain, and it can be evocative in places like these, just north of Kyōto Station, from east of East Hongan Temple to west of West Hongan Temple (京都駅北の西本願寺の西から東本願寺の東まで歩きました). There are East and West sects because Pure Land Buddhism was becoming politically influential, so the Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu arbitrarily split the large sect into two in order to make them rivals and divide and conquer the priests.
Umekōji Park (梅小路公園), true to its name, has many ume plum trees, now fully blossoming in several colors. Next is the temple Higashi Honganji. Then finally its separate strolling garden, Shōsei'en (渉成園). I've mentioned liking pond life in Kyōto, and the blue herons nesting in the big trees were putting on quite a show. The color combinations of plum blossoms were also stunning.
#Japan #Kyoto #travel #sightseeing #nature #Buddhism #Buddhist #blossoms #pond #heron #grayHeron #photography #photos
'Let's go inside so you can get a feel of the size of it,' zei de Amerikaan tegen zijn drie metgezellen. Toen ik met mijn fiets weer naar de uitgang van de stalling bij station Leiden liep, stonden ze nog verwonderd om zich heen te kijken.
'We're going to the Amsterdam one next,' vertelden ze toen ik zei dat die in Utrecht pas echt spectaculair is.
City: Regensburg, Germany Tourist attraction: Hannchen Haag
What is the most crowded sightseeing tour you have ever taken?
These free walking tours are waiting for you in Regensburg: https://visitsights.com/sightseeing-tours/Germany/Regensburg
#Stolperstein #Travel #Sightseeing #Memorial #Germany #Regensburg #Historic #Sights
