Here are Glen and Ruth, resting on the bridge over the moat at Nijo Castle.
I wish I could have taken pictures or even sketched inside the buildings, but both were forbidden. Still, the ornate coffered ceilings, gold-leafed, painted screens and sliding doors, and "incidental" decorations at the transom level were amazing.As always, the real thing is so much more vivid than any reproduction. Being in the space, surrounded by the sound of the nightengale floors and the smell of old wood and cloth as well as the sights cannot be replaced. Those vast, dim rooms, void of any furniture except tatami, make the power of the Shoguns visible in a way that is different from the overstuffed rooms of the Medici who were their contemporaries.
Of course, I bought a book full of pictures at the gift shop.
And after strolling around and gawking indoors, we were allowed to take pictures of the gardens....
