After my trip to the USA, I came back to Japan just in time for a 3 day weekend. Dereck had Monday off of work for Columbus Day (yay for Govt. holidays!). The weather was beautiful and we decided to head to the coast to the town of Kamakura, to see "The Big Budda" statue.
Kamakura is about a 2 hour train ride south of us, and is an ocean town. The train ride was nice- we had seats the whole way- which is surprising because we found out it was a Japanese holiday too. We got into Kamakura around 1:30 and first things first, we got some lunch. We found a restaurant that was in one of our Japanese travel books. We never would have gone into this place if it wasn't in the book, and I'm SO glad that we found it. It was on the 2nd story and served a Japanese pancake, called Okonamiyaki. It is not a sweet breakfast pancake like in the states, but a very hearty dinner pancake filled with veggies and meat. Dereck got his with beef, and I did mine with Mochi instead (a rice dough). We had an idea of what to do, but the service was so great that they showed us how to do it- all without much English being spoken! It was pretty funny, but we appreciate their kindness. It was a moment where I wish that we could tip them.
After lunch we walked to the Budda. The real name for it is Diabutsu or Great Budda. It was built in the 1200s and lived up to its name- it was really big! It was cool to see because nothing in America is that old. This budda has held up for 800 years through all sorts of weather, including earthquakes. Its pretty impressive! I enjoyed his serene face and peaceful presence. It was calming just to be around it. We even got to go inside it (its hollow) and see how its constructed. It was very interesting.
After the budda, we went to georgous hilltop shrine/temple (I'm terrible, but I always forget which is which! sorry to anybody I may offend...). It was built on a hill and was beautifully landscaped all the way to the top. At the top you could look out over the ocean. It was quite a view and we enjoyed resting and taking it all in.
We decided to take a hike down to the beach before heading home. It was really pretty even though it was very busy. The sand was very dark, almost black, which was a first for me to see. Dereck even got some of his favorite Green Tea ice cream on the way.
After the beach we left and headed back home. The trip home was much busier, and we actually got on the train going the wrong way for the first time in months! It made for a good laugh, and since we weren't really rushing home for anything, it was okay. It was a wonderful day and it was so fun to just explore and be with Dereck after 3 weeks of being gone! I know I'll get to go back again, because this is a great place to take visitors who want to come to Japan.
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