The Willoughbys!

Our good friends the Willoughbys came to visit at the end of February. We were so excited that we took a few days off of work and treated it like a little vacation for ourselves. Like always, we spent a lot of time in Kyoto, but we also went to a few new places like the Hikone Castle and Kobe. We had a great time and may be seeing them again in June to climb Fuji-san. Here are the highlights:

Rob and Amber at Za Watami(a good izakaya)

A couple members of a boy-band that we ran into in Kyoto
(they coincidentally both were wearing purses).

Amber, Rob, Dan, Me and Gransan at the Monkey Park.

Rob, Amber and Dan in the Bamboo forest.

Rob climbing a wall at Hikone Castle

Dan and Rob posing with a giant tanooki. There are statues of tanookis all over the country. They are often near entrances of stores/restaurants and are supposed to represent good economy.

Rob and Amber at The A Bar. This is our favorite bar in Kyoto.

Dan and Rob taking it in at the Kobe harbor.