Today was spent in Nara - which was absolutely lovely. We were lucky to be shown round by one of our academic hosts, who lives there, and who crafted a wonderful route for us, round - yes - gardens, temples, shrines. We were less lucky in the dull, grey, sometimes rainy, unphotogenic weather - so rather than Large Buildings in the Gloom or Wonderful Views, here are an assortments of textures and colors: a boundary stone; lotus leaves;
moss and lichen;
a damp garden seen through a door frame;
a wall;
a roof with the beams elaborately and disconcertingly painted in USC's colors (disconcerting, too, was the USC baseball cap being worn by someone on the train back to Kyoto);
a large Buddha - though dwarfed by the huge, dark one next to it;
hanging lanterns;
and grove after grove of memorial lanterns on pillars - which are lit on three days a year, and which stretch away magically into the forest.
And yes, there are a large number of sacred deer, being fed from little packets of round rice cakes;
which are so much a signature of the city that they appear on the drain covers.
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