Native American Art

There was only a small section of Native American art and history, but it was beautiful. The weaving techniques, the clay jars, the photos were just inspiring. Don't just glance through this area. Please take your time through here as you can miss so much without a proper look or thought.

These were just a few of the photos that really rooted me to the spot. I would have stayed here for hours if my friend wasn't waiting.

Palace of the Governor's: Santa Fe, NM

The Palace of the Governor's is where the governor's of Santa Fe used to live. Now, it is a museum for the history of Santa Fe. We can't take photographs inside the museum except in the courtyard, which is where this photo was taken. The museum has a lot of photographs and artifacts on display. A good place to visit to understand what the city of Santa Fe went through.

Details of Santa Fe #1

 Design

 Material

Add ons to older buildings.

Around the Oldest House of Santa Fe

 I noticed this tree not too far from the oldest house left standing in Santa Fe. The first thing that came to mind was how long it had been there and the changes that happened around it.

Part of the restaurant that hides the house from the main street. If you have been walking around all morning maybe it's time for a break with a little wine or beer. Watch your head going in!

A full view of the house. Unfortunately, you can't go to the second floor anymore. Only the one room in the front is accessible to visitors.

The Oldest House in Santa Fe, NM

 The building on the left is what's left of one of the original houses in Santa Fe. It used to be bigger with a second story, but over time it has become this one room museum. The entrance is through the real estate agency and there is a restaurant hiding it from the main street. I would never have found it without my friend, Cynthia's, guidance.

Ise, Japan: Ise Shrine on the Geku side

Ise, Japan: The Biggest Shrine in Japan

 

Where To Visit: Nagoya Castle

If you need proof that you visited Nagoya Castle you can get this stamp. Woohoo!...yeah, I'm not sure what you would do with this. I'm thinking it is more for the kids.

Transportation for the rich back in the day.

I think my a** would have fallen asleep along with my legs and toes! Also, I'm sure the up and down movement from the two people carrying the carriage would have made me nauseous as well. I'd rather walk thank you!

There are 2 statues of Shachihoko on the top of this castle. The used to be made of gold, but they apparently had a problem with people stealling the scales for money. Then, they were made of bronze and these are the ones that were in the fire during WWII. They had completely new ones made and placed on top of the rebuilt Nagoya Castle.

Here is the other one and also the giant version they have in the lobby area of the castle. It's one of Nagoya's symbols so they needed a giant Shachihoko in the lobby. But, at least it is the color the original versions would have been when they were made.

What is fun to do is locating the different marks in the stone walls. Each mark represents the different families that helped to build or have the castle built...I think for the original castle.

This one looks like a segment of an orange.

This one I have no idea, but it looks cool!

It kind of looks like chopsticks with steam or fire coming off of them...what do you think?

This is a giant bath tub that used to have gold sheets or flakes placed on the bottom. This bath tub could probably fit 4 - 5 people, sitting cross legged, comfortably.

Here is another marker that reminds of Tokugawa Iyeyasu's symbol.

See you again Nagoya Castle!

This is the little souvenir that I got for myself. I couldn't resist, it was too funny! There is a mini Shachihoko biting the tail of Rody a donkey or horse like character.

Nagoya, Japan: Nagoya Castle

Nagoya is famous for a variety of delicious foods, but also for its history! Nagoya is where Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were born. You can learn a little more about Nagoya's history inside the Nagoya Castle's museum.

This is not the originial castle. The original burned down during WWII from an air raid, but some artifacts survived. You can see those in the museum as well.

If you go to the top of Nagoya Castle you can view Nagoya city from a high vantage point.  Walk around the observatory deck to have a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

They have these viewfinders (that remind me of Wall-E from the Disney movie) for those buildings that are too far away to see clearly.

You can see the Nagoya Station area from here. Some of the tallest buildings in Nagoya is located there.

Walking Course #1 to Atsuta Shrine Continued

On my walking course I came across this garden. I was tempted to stop inside, but as I mentioned in my previous post, my goal was to finish the course and not get sidetracked. Although, I will definitely be coming back to this garden since it seemed like there weren't that many people here. And if it is good enough for wedding photos I think it would be good enough to pay a visit!

You can see the photographer perfecting the brides outfit for her photos.

 

 The course brought me back to the river side and I noticed these pictures in the railing! I thought it was a nice idea to add some scenes that used to be seen on the river. It doesn't seem like any boats go up or down this river anymore, but I can imagine that a long time ago, they did.

 They even had a replica of a boat that you could have seen floating on the river!

 If you need to stop and rest there are benches along the way. Although, there are a lot of birds in the area so I'm not sure if you would want to risk stopping under the trees. The bird songs were beautiful to listen to.

 A fountain with the water washing down.

This lantern was placed in the same fountain as the previous photo.

By this point I was getting very thirsty, but the good news is there were plenty of vending machines along the way! I was able to find about 5 just in the vicinity of this fountain.