THE WAY WE WERE

While I was devouring the treasure trove that is How to Be a Retronaut I came across these images of Korea from 1955. Jonathan Gazeley has cataloged photographs taken by his grandfather Michael King, who spent time Korea as part of the Royal Engineers. The photographs depict a very different Korea from the one I currently inhabit. My grandfather and a great aunt both served in Korea, and I've tried to imagine what this country looked like back then before all the high-rise apartments, subway lines and mega malls. Have a look, Korea has done a lot of growing in the last 58 years.

72 HOURS IN KYOTO

Well, it will be a bit more than 72 hours, but to Kyoto we go!! The big man aka Buddha's birthday is this Tuesday and my school is celebrating it's birthday on Monday so with a 4 day weekend Mo and I decided we'd brave the radiation rain and absurd Japanese exchange rate and visit the former imperial capital of Japan.

"Kyoto is the storehouse of Japan's traditional culture and the stage on which much of Japanese history was played out. With 17 Unesco World Heritage sites, more than 1600 Buddhist temples and over 400 Shinto shrines, Kyoto is also one of the world's most culturally rich cities.

Kyoto is where you will find the Japan of your imagination: raked pebble gardens, poets' huts hideen amid bamboo groves, arcades of vermilion shrine gates, geisha disappearing into the doorways of traditional restaurants, golden temples floating above tranquil waters. Indeed, most of the sites that make up the popular image of Japan probably originated in Kyoto."

Passage taken from Lonely Planet.

I'm beyonddddd excited to go to Japan and explore this gorgeous, preserved city steeped in so much history! Above is a picture from the New York Times 36 hours in Kyoto and if you've seen Lost in Translation you might remember the scene where Charlotte goes to Kyoto. I'll be back on Tuesday with lighter pockets, plenty of sushi in my tummy, stories and pictures. Have a good weekend everyone!

Above pictures from Lonely Planet.