2016-10-02, Cirque du Soleil and Torimoto Matsuri

I went to Osaka to see Cirque du Soleil.  

They put up a circus tent in an empty lot and did amazing acrobatics. 

The sponsor was Daihatsu which is why the cars are here.

I have to talk about the world class porta potty buildings!  There was a huge line so I was going to wait but it went so quickly I was amazed and went in.  Inside there must have been 30 or so toilets and since it was hard to see which ones were empty down the long hall there were red/green lights on each door.  And besides having no smell at all and being so clean, there seats were heated!  Not that we need that in the summer but it's actually nice no matter the temperature.  Very impressive.

At the stations yesterday I noticed a poster for a festival in an area called Torimoto.  I had never heard of it but it turns out it wasn't too far away (by car).  It was a very small - neighborhood festival with some food, games for the children, local entertainment, and some of the very old homes/shops open for viewing.  The temp. was near 90 (unexpected I think) but it was a very fun day anyway - the people were so friendly and excited to share information about each place.

There were many beautiful flower arrangements in front of the buildings as well.

A Buddist alter.  Most people have one in their home, probably not this elaborate though.  Relatives who have passed have their pictures inside and people put flowers and some food (rice or fruit, etc. ) in there each day, and say a little prayer and a hello to their loved ones.

A lot of the buildings had very high ceilings.

I've always thought these drawers built into the stairs were a great idea - although the stairs are very steep.
But what a good use of space.

They were really great!

They are making ice cream the old fashioned way.

I think this was the oldest building - 350 years old.

Lunch was some delicious yakitori and this spicy (for me) deer (venison) curry.

Nice little quartet.

After the festival we went to the small town called Samegai.  I love the little stream/river there, it's really clean, very cold any time of year, and known for some special flowers that grow in it.

There were also some absolutely amazing spiderwebs over the river.

We're supposed to get some more rain tomorrow.  I did as much laundry as I could today since it takes a long time to dry inside on rainy days and we've had soooo much rain lately.  But it's also supposed to be a little cooler this coming week so that will be nice.