Mt. Hiei

Last weekend, Wendy and the kids spent the night at a temple near Yase as part of the Alexander retreat.  I went out on Saturday and saw where things were, but had to head in to downtown that evening since my lab was having a special annual dinner for all current and previous group members.  We ate at ifuji (いふじ) which was a really good traditional Japanese restaurant.  I don't know what the food is called, but there was a big pot of boiling water that you cooked meat and vegetables in.

The next morning, I went back up to the end of the railway to the temple (I can't read the Kanji and don't know what it is called).

If you take the Eizan line to the end (to Yase), here you are!

The kids and I decided to take the train up to the top of Mt. Hiei.  The first train is a Funicular train, with two cars that go past each other.  

I keep telling the kids that they need to smile for the pictures since they might end up on the blog.  So far, we've not been super successful at this.  But, if you look at the right half of the first picture and the left half of the second....

Hmm.  Maybe I can 'shop it...

PERFECT!  I'ts just they way it looked.  (Maybe I should consider a career in graphic arts?  Please contact me...)

Then, we took a cable car from half-way up to the very top!  

Kyoto from the top of Mt. Hiei!

It was an amazing sight, and N, M and I walked a long way to a big famous temple complex called Enryakuji.  

There is also a pretty garden museum at the top of the mountain where we ate lunch.  It wasn't quite the right season for the museum, and it was cold up there, but we walked through quickly.  The kids did their famous "bridge on a bridge" pose.

Stay tuned for more adventures!