Wandering Wednesday | Boston 2010

It's been ages since I've done a Wandering Wednesday post. I realized when I relaunched my blog, that I had heaps of photos from old trips. Wednesdays were designated as my days to reminisce, which is great for me since it takes me months, even years, to post photos from my trips.

Boston is one of my favorite cities in the States. Markus and I loved it so much that it was on the list of possible cities to live. I think I would've loved living there. I just adore the feel of the place. It's like being in a museum, but everywhere. I love the architecture and the red brick everywhere. I could spend all day posing in front of every building. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to just that one day soon!

Kiyomizu-dera | Kyoto, Japan

When Markus and I were in Kyoto, we planned on visiting all the "must-see" temples. In an ideal world, we would have all the time, energy and money to do everything we wanted, but reality isn't really like that. On this particular day, I had way too much planned. We were in the Gion district and earlier that day we dressed as a geisha and samurai. Afterward, we walked all over the area looking at other temples. By the time we finally made it to Kiyomizu-dera, I was exhausted. We also found out that they were under construction and the line was way too long. In the end, we decided to pass on going inside. Instead, Markus took heaps of photos of the outside. Now looking back on it, I don't regret it at all. It was the height of summer and the best time to go to Kiyomizu-dera is during fall or spring. Maybe when Markus and I go back to Japan, we'll go during one of those seasons and finally see what all the hype is about!

Lakeshore Drive | Chicago, Illinois

For some reason, every place that I've moved to has been near a body of water. Before, I was always near the beach and ocean. This is the first time that I've been near a lake. I have to admit that lakes are a bit scary compared to oceans. Oh who am I kidding, all bodies of water terrify me but that's another story for another time. Anyway, Lake Michigan is quite beautiful. It's definitley a different feeling from the beach and I quite like it. I don't know if we'll go often, but it's nice to have access especially on those hot summer days.

Day 2: Wandering the Streets | Kyoto, Japan

I like to refer day two of Kyoto as "Noelle and Markus standing in front of nice backgrounds". We did more than just wander around, but I realized that I had a lot of random pictures that weren't for a specific place. Every time I saw a nice wall, house or window, I made Markus stop and take photos. I couldn't help myself, Kyoto is just so beautiful. I've just realized that this is a shameless photo post, but I still hope you enjoy them!

Kakigori on a Hot Summer Day | Kyoto, Japan

While Markus and I were in Japan, it was ridiculously hot. We went in the beginning of August, so it was the height of the summer. The minute I stepped outside it was like stepping into a bright sauna. Everyday I would be covered in sweat. It was great. So as you can imagine, I would constantly search for shade or refreshment. In Korea, they have this amazing shaved ice dessert called patbingsu. We also have an equivalent in the Philippines called halo-halo. These shaved iced desserts are the perfect remedy for hot days.

Markus and I were exploring the Gion district. We were sort of aimlessly walking in direction of a temple, but would stop at anything that peaked our interest. We passed this really cool place and thought the outside looked interesting, but we didn't know what it was. When we saw a sign for kakigori, the Japanese version of shaved ice, I asked Markus if we could try it. He didn't really want to stop, so we kept going. We walked about 500 feet and he stopped.  He turned to me and said, "You really want to eat that patbingsu don't you?" I eagerly nodded my head and he smiled.

We ordered the green tea kakigori and it was freaking amazing. I ate a lot of green tea patbingsu in Korea in the two years I was there. This was probably, if not, the best green tea shaved ice I've ever had. I'm so glad that we didn't pass up on the opportunity and we were able to try real authentic kakigori.