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Today's post is brought to you by my Uncle Bryan! He and my aunt travel to Japan pretty regularly to visit my cousin, who lives there. Here he tells of a lovely day trip you can take in Fukuoka.
It may be only a twenty minute train ride from the hustle and bustle of Fukuoka, Japan, but the Nanzoin Temple seems like a world away. Nestled on the side of a steep mountain hillside in the tiny village of Sasaguri, moss covered trails meander over babbling brooks and waterfalls and each turn in the path surprises with a new altar or Buddhist statue. The mountain itself is serene and majestic with tall redwoods, giant bamboo, ferns, and blossoming fruit trees.
Try to find two faces that are alike. Go ahead, I dare you.
Continue reading “The Many Faces of Fukuoka’s Nanzoin Temple” →
"We don't see things as they are,
we see them as we are."
~ Anais Nin
"Spirit says you will take peyote tonight." This was the message from the medicine cards to a Tarahumara friend of mine many years ago. She was an adult and I was a kid in high school. Our unplanned afternoon conversation carried us through the evening and into the early hours of the morning, baring our souls and covering topics even the most inspired artist could not have predicted. The meaning of the card was clear. Although we had indulged in no mind-altering substances, we might as well have. We had gone on a journey together.
People have always been central to my travel experiences. I had dreamt of traveling to Egypt for ages. When I finally experienced the pyramids, the Temple of Hatshepsut, King Tut's tomb, and Abu Simbel, it was satisfying on a soul level to have accomplished a goal. What made it touching and memorable, though, were the individuals with whom I connected, however briefly, while there. The same thing happened recently in Nottingham. It's so fresh that it's still resonating when I wake up in the morning, sip tea, or sit in front of my computer.
(Click on any photo for a larger and clearer version.)
Working together with strangers comes naturally on the canals.
Continue reading “My Dinner with Robin (Hood)” →
Scattered around Cork are various elements marking historical events throughout the ages. The juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary is one of the things I love most about living in Europe. Now centuries old pubs not only have historical stone and brickwork, but running water (hallelujah!) and wifi, as well. On Barrack Street in Cork you can find automobiles, neon pub signs, a garda station, and a centuries old star fort. …You know, just something you pass on your way to the grocery store.
Star fort or fire-breathing Lego turtle?
Not everyone who lives in the city remembers where Elizabeth Fort is. Even for folks in the neighborhood, it's hard to get a sense of the scale and shape of the thing when simply meandering past. This helpful panel inside the fort lays it out quite clearly: it's Gamera.
Continue reading “Fun photo essay: a visit to Elizabeth Fort” →
For those of you who follow the TourAbsurd Facebook page, the last couple of days have been filled with hint dropping about an exciting travel destination that just made its way onto my itinerary. Three of you guessed correctly! And the big news is? …INDIA!
Taj Mahal photo courtesy of Shannon O'Donnell.
Continue reading “Update: …and the big news is?” →
Happy Paddy's Day to you! Hope yours was green, lively, safe, and fun. Here are a few – OK, a bunch of – snaps of the local goings on here in Cork, Ireland. Enjoy!
Part 1: Before the Madness
Play "Call to the Dairy Cows" from the William Tell Overture, or maybe Edvard Grieg's "Morning" to get a sense of the lovely idyll that is Sunday Morning in Cork. People are either at church or sleeping off the bender from the night before, and the streets are gloriously empty…
You can almost hear the birdies chirping…
Continue reading “Photo Essay: St. Patrick’s Day in Cork” →
Today's post was written by my friend and fellow expat, Emily Davis-Fletcher. She writes a lot of great poetry and fiction. She also has a sly sense of humor, hidden beneath a friendly and innocent-seeming smile. (Shhh!)
I love Charles Fort. If Charles Fort were a man and not a 17th century coastal ruin, I’d marry him. Stunning in any weather—dark and mysterious under threatening skies that shower you with misty kisses or charming and gracious in full sun with a generous world view, heaping a sea of diamonds upon you. Charles Fort has something special to offer every romantic soul.
Dynamic and complex as any Irish man (without the mammy) – rough and rugged as one of the largest star-shaped military forts in the country with a roguish flare for drama, showing off in front of brazen cliffs and plunging sea line. But Charles Fort is no bully or macho man. In fact, its tender side is its most striking. Low to the ground, it seems to crouch, enveloped by soft, thick grass sprinkled with white and lavender flowers like a plush blanket laid out for you to walk or lie on.
Continue reading “Romancing the Stones of Charles Fort” →
Behold, my friends, the spring is come;
the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun,
and we shall soon see the results of their love!
~ Sitting Bull
Sproi-oi-oi-oi-oing!
By Irish reckoning, Spring begins on the first of February. Having grown up in Southern California, it took me a while to get my head around the idea of 4 separate seasons. (And no, it was not just sunshine all the time; it was more like "deathly hot / wildfire" season vs. "downpour / mudslide" season.) After moving to Washington state, I finally started to get a sense of how solstices and equinoxes marked separate parts of the yearly cycle. Discovering that Ireland, where a lot of this pagan-ish, solstice-y stuff was said to originate, was on a different schedule is something to which I am still adjusting.
Continue reading “Ireland: Signs of Spring” →
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