Ella read a story in school about the Iceman found in the mountains of Italy. So we ended visiting Bolzano, Italy. It is small town in the Northern part of the country. While famous for Otzi, the icem...Read More
Japan has pleasantly surprised us and exceeded our expectations on multiple fronts. Here are just a few of the highlights: Clean – The culture of Japan is one of order, respect, self-reliance an...Read More
When we decided Japan was on our list of places to visit one of the things we hoped to see were the famous Cherry Blossoms. As I worked on the schedule for the trip I could not make it work for us to ...Read More
They really like their tea in Japan. Especially, matcha or green tea. In America when you see treats that are green you usually think mint. Craig learned that is not the case in Japan. Green is tea ...Read More
Sumo wrestling is a sport that is unique to Japan. It began centuries ago and it has deep cultural roots. There are only a handful of tournaments each year. Although the tournaments last up to 20 days...Read More
Tiffany and I made the decision to invest in Japan Rail passes during our stay in Japan. The passes give us the ability to ride as many trains as frequently as we want during a 20-day period. While st...Read More
In Japan Valentine’s Day is a big deal. But it is a little different than in the United States. On Valentine’s Day the women give the men chocolate. There is a catch for the men. If they r...Read More
(Photo: Tiffany grocery shopping) Tokyo is where we really began to understand the culture and daily life of the Japanese. We had to figure out how to survive in a country where we could not understan...Read More
A trip to Japan is not complete, if you have kids, without a stop at the Pokemon Center. In our case we visited four by the end of our trip. One we ran across by accident. The kids enjoyed every minut...Read More
(Photo: Naavah petting a barn owl) Japan is the first country where we could experience a “pet cafe.” A pet cafe is where you go and pet animals owned by the cafe while you sip your tea (o...Read More