I finally took the family to Ise in Mie prefecture for a long weekend. Ise along with Ise Shrine is one of the more famous Japan travel destinations that I had not yet been to. The Ise Grand Shrine is considered the most sacred ShintÅ shrine in Japan, and along with the top of Mt Fuji is considered a must visit sometime in your lifetime place. Of course we did many of the other activities in the area and made sure to eat all the famous foods:
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We took the shinkansen and express trains there and back
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Purification stream of the inner shrine
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At the inner shrine. There are always lots of people visiting.
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The Uji Bridge
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The famous shopping street in front of the shrine. There were lots of traditional shops and foods, and we saw a Taiko performance.
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Eating ‘Akafuku’ the famous Japanese sweet of the area
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Eating the local style Ise Udon
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For dinner we had the local style ‘TekoneSushi’
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At the fairly impressive Toba Sea-Folk Museum
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Melina loved playing in the submarine
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Eating Unagi for lunch
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Taking a boat ride around Ago bay, famous for Japanese Perl cultivation
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A quick stop at a park for slides, running around, and ice cream
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We hiked up to the overlook of the bay at Yokoyama
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Eating Matsuzaka beef (up there on the rankings with Kobe beef) for dinner along with other things Melina likes.
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‘Okayu’ at the outer shrine for breakfast
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Finally was Melina’s favorite part of the trip; Toba Aquarium. She got to see and touch a whole lot of sea animals, and a snake. It was my first time to pet a walrus as well.
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