meandering minds…

But I will try. I know some of you care about this. And tomorrow my molar will be pulled and it should be uphill from there.

Ottawa and Quebec were lovely on take-off, in the autumn:

Though a bit foggy through the dirty airplane window.

This trip we landed first in Vancouver to visit Rudi’s lovely daughter Alexa and her beau, Ryan. We had a great dinner with them, slept in a wonderful B&B and left in the morning for my very favourite town in the world, Sidney-by-the-Sea.

We were third in our line for the ferry, and we were headed for the fourth level. To give you an idea of the size of that thing, you can imagine the three decks beneath us filled with RVs, busses, trucks, tractor trailers and more!

The ferry ride is less than two hours, $14 if you walk on and $75 for the two of us with the rental car. It takes you through all of the Gulf Islands to Vancouver Island, where we get off just north of wonderful Sidney.

I loved seeing a seaplane flying through the islands, and we learned that on our next trip we could take a seaplane rather than the ferry. I am most definitely up for that! In this photo the seaplane is TINY. But it’s the thought that counts.

We’re off to Sidney now, 10km from the parents’ house, to pick up Meghan’s (my daughter) special Empress Tea from Janet’s Teas, and to take Oma to the bank, the pharmacy and to pick up Rudi’s sister Yolande from her condo.

We really lucked out on the flight from Chicago to LAX! I’d asked the desk agent in Ottawa if he could find us seats that were more forward than the ones we were originally assigned, and he did. We didn’t know what 17AB meant, but it turns out that on a 767-300 for American Airlines it is exceptional!

It is a set of two seats in their own little room, almost, with the screen for movies and loads of leg room, and a curtain to close off the rest of the plane. It is almost across from the galley, and is reserved (unless they need it) for the flight attendants on international flights, for a rest. Embroidered pillows, comforters and all. Here’s Rudi enjoying our flying room!

Since we’d landed at rush hour (which in LA is 3-8pm) we went to the nearby Whole Foods for some food and shopping. WOW! The largest in North America, and it was beyond exceptional. I had to get a photo of it!  And here are Steven. Marla and Rudi on the windy evening - who thought I wanted to shoot them!

We woke to a lovely breakfast of fresh pineapple, and I had some Greek yogurt I’d bought at Whole Foods. Then the party started!

Marla heard we’d never had a canelle, so she sent Rudi and Steven for a little walk (a “few blocks” in Santa Barbara takes about 40 minutes!) and they returned with this delectable pastry - it was gorgeous!

Then out came the almond croissants and pain au chocolat:

And then out came the cupcakes, from a very special cupcake-only place, Sweet Buttercup. For a good time, vicariously, do visit their website! www.sweetbuttercup.com

Marla and I spent the afternoon walking down State Street, which is a lovely street filled with all kinds of wonderful stores. I was excited to spot the guy that I’d seen on You Tube, walking down the street with his dog on a leash. On the dog was a cat, and on the cat was a rat. VERY cool!

And lastly, I shot down a side street off State, looking north so you could chesk this view:

And the weather was gorgeous. Perfect since we’d have about seven weeks of rain and clouds in Ottawa this summer.

We took our staff to the spa last week. They absolutely deserved it - and they deserve it weekly!

Venetia, Frances and I had massages to start the day. The boys probably explored the pools and sauna. The spa is Le Nordik, in Chelsea, Quebec, just 20 minutes outside of Ottawa.

Then we (the ladies) explored the pools and the sauna and had tea in the relaxation room. Then we went for lunch. I took some shots - but the food was truly unremarkable, so forget the photos. The restaurant isn’t worth it.

Here are Frances and Venetia relaxing by the hot pool (and if you look closely, you can see Jason and Rudi above them, by the outdoor fire):

(You can click on photos to enlarge them.)

And deep in conversation:

The boyz - doing one of the things they do best, by the fire on a cloudy day:

And we waited for our etheric bodies to arrive and join our physical bodies. Not sure what mine was doing - we arrived Thursday afternoon and I slept all day Saturday. Somewhere in there we took Rudi’s mom and dad and his younger sister to Adrienne’s Tea Garden for high tea. We really did have a nice time, despite the lousy pics of everyone!

Don’t you hate it when people take pictures of you when you are eating? Thank goodness my in-laws don’t own a computer!

And there were a LOT of goodies on our tea trays - and I can admit here and now that it was more than I could finish.

But I wish I had another chance this afternoon…

After a hearty breakfast:

We hopped on the bus for the waterfall tour. We didn’t really need a tour of anything, because we would have been happy to walk around Nikko and learn more about the history, but we elected for the one tour mostly because I could get photos of the waterfalls for Om Hermann. If you’ll recall, that is Rudi’s uncle in Holland, an artist, who is very much into flowing water right now.

This one was a skillion miles high and you had to take an elevator down into the bowels of the earth to view it. And then the mist from this waterfall blew all the way over to where we were standing, so the lens had to be wiped constantly.

This was another one. We took the bus to each of the falls, and it took quite a while to climb the mountain - I think there was a total of 48 180-degree switchbacks… not too exciting for those with motion sickness!

Now, this is the little town of Nikko. If you google Nikko and monkeys, or attack monkeys of Nikko, you will see that there is an issue with the wild monkeys coming down from the forest to steal things from stores, or people. And this is a photo of the store that the monkey was in. This photo was taken as the monkey ran out of the store and up the wall and onto the rooftop. There is no monkey in this photo, as monkeys run faster than my finger can push the shutter.

Well, what do you know? Another waterfall!

I found a woman who is a carver, and she was 10000 years old. She carved Meghan’s and Kelsey’s name, and the animal of their birth year, on a wooden laquered pendant. Meghan is a rabbit and Kelsey is a dragon. That explains a lot.

Her husband, or son, heard that I was from Canada and he told us that he had played ice hockey there! He was on the team from Nikko, the Ice Bucks. He loved playing in Canada. This is him with an Ice Bucks poster.

Mutsumi-san took us to lunch at a very old and famous hotel in Nikko. We enjoyed looking at the photos from the beginning of the building of the hotel, through the early 1900’s. There was even a lovely letter sent from Toynbee after he and his wife had stayed there!

And a gorgeous bridge, much-photographed, seen on our walk back to our own hotel:

We had the choice to visit Kyoto (once again) or Nikko. We were given the general temperatures of both during the month of July. And though we adored Kyoto on our first visit there, its location ensured a temp nearing 40C, which was less attractive to us than Nikko’s maybe 30C.

The hotel was lovely! Misty mountains were the view from the back windows, and a stream the colour of glacier water flowed by. We were seated in this area while a hotel manager described the facilities and possible tours of the area.

And we were served a snack:

Matcha and some Japanese sweets - these a sesame variety. 

Our presence was noted on the hotel’s directory in the front entry - no anonymity here!

We went for a walk. Across from the hotel and down a ways is the incredible shrine built by the last Tokugawa shogun, as a memorial for his family. Most people are familiar with the carvings, which are the most detailed and ornate of any on earth. And here, perhaps the one most well known:

Which Rudi and Mutsumi-san interpreted as:

The buildings and carvings were exceptional. I shot some where photography was allowed:

And the last shogun himself:

One last building:

And Rudi and I headed back to our room - a traditional Japanese tatami room, low table and legless chairs, with wonder of wonders — an onsen, a private onsen in our room!!

We were very pleased!! And we wish we’d had more time to use it. Maybe next time.

We were very brave and took the train from Atami alone, though we were accompanied virtually to the door of the train in Atami and met at the other end in Tokyo by our escort, Mutsumi. There we took a cab to the centre of Tokyo, which we’d never really seen before, and hopped on a train from another station to get to the fascinating city of Nikko.

On the train to Nikko we were fascinated to watch an older woman, seated with her husband. She had a baby sitting on her lap… and feeding it… giving it beer… BEER?? Wait - the baby was a doll. And she dutifully fed it, wiped its mouth, put on its bib… it was amazing.

I know some of you like the food photos - so these are the dinner that we were served the Tuesday evening at the spa/hotel in Nikko. So many courses that I thought they’d never end… Forgive the blurry shots - I’d taken my smaller camera and it wasn’t doing (no, I wasn’t doing) a good job of autofocusing. Bad photo disclaimer.

First, Rudi and I heading to the traditional restaurant in traditional garb:

And then the food - and I am not sure that I shot every course - these are the four little starters and the dipping sauces for the shabu-shabu and other courses:

Shabu shabu beef and boiling water:

Yeah, we’re still eating:

At last!! Dessert!!

And that’s it until tomorrow!

In the morning we woke, had a phenomenal breakfast and headed out for the manufacturing facility that Torako had built high in the mountains. The attention to detail in Japan is just beautiful, and one example is in the shoes - you remove them when entering a house (as in Canada). And when it is time for you to leave, your shoes have been placed in the direction you’d need them for exiting the house! (I think my the shoe fairy.)

Here is the onsen in the yard - but we learned it was too hot to fill it in the summer. I guess I’d agree. With an average temp of 32 the week we were here, you wouldn’t want to bask in the sun while in a hot onsen. The view from this one is just spectacular.

This facility was a skeleton when we saw it 14 months ago. Now it is fully functional, manufacturing remedies and creams, shampoos and even a grain mixture. Here’s a worker filling remedy bottles:

And the shelving they go on:

And the sacred area where remedies are hand-succussed:

And succussion in action:

And hand-succussion on a good book!

And, after our great tour, and some iced tea made with spring water that flows directly into the facility, we headed for the train station. We had a date with Nikko, a city in the mountains! This is Rudi and Torako-san at the station.

Yes, this is a delayed post! We finished up classes on the Monday afternoon in Tokyo:

With students on fibre optic transmission in Fukoka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Okinawa and Sapporo — as well as in person in Tokyo:

And   on the right, Midori-san doing her artful translation, with the incredible Torako-san, founder and principal of Homeopathy Japan. She’s just an exceptional woman fighting for truth (and particularly when it comes to the works of Dr. Hahnemann) in Japan (where the insanity of those calling themselves “classicists” abounds!):

Finally, after an amazing lunch that I am not showing you or the food photos would just overwhelm this small blog, we hopped the bullet train to Atami. This is a seaside town where Torako-san has a lovely home high on the mountain above the town area. This shot is looking down at dusk:

I have not shown you the 12-course meal we had for dinner, prepared by Torako-san’s housekeeper, once we arrived in Atami. The food is just overwhelming - in flavour, variety and quantity.

I guess I ought to show you the shot in the dark of the harbour area from the balcony of our bedroom, which was shot on a previous trip:

If that was the view from your bedroom - would you go to sleep?

We do, and sleep very well after a relaxing - um - lie in the onsen. We shower first, wash our hair standing up or sitting on a small stool, then climb into the cedar onsen filled with hot water, so fragrant with cedar, and almost pass out… perfect before climbing into bed.

Night night. More tomorrow.