The Picture Book
The Overview
Found a bakery that baked fresh bread before our eyes, which didn’t contain milk or soy
Walked through the street market and bought some soy-free cherry blossom rice balls
Had bread and jam for breakfast whilst sat watching the fountain
Went to the deer park
Walked around Nara and saw some of the historical sights such as Tōdai-ji Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple and Tōshōdai-ji Temple.
Went and found more deer
The Details
As soon as you leave the train station in Nara, a bakery stands before you. Sweet breads and cakes surround you as you walk through the door. As someone with a milk allergy and a soy intolerance, I often avoid these places, knowing I will never be able to eat at them. However, this day I was feeling brave. I read the labels, hoping to find there was non of the allergens in at least something, but to no such luck. One of the nice bakers came over to me and I explained to them my allergies, and said that I understood that I could eat none of it, but it was nice to look nonetheless. She right away went to talk to the other bakers and found out that the sandwiches they make, does not use milk or soy in the ingredients. Unfortunately, they had filled all these breads with sandwich filling that I could not eat, however, they were just making a fresh batch, so asked me to wait 5 minutes and there would be some freshly baked for me. We were delighted and order 3 of the mini loaves/rolls, as we looked at the local jam selection they were selling. When they were ready, we bought some blueberry jam with the bread, thanked the kind bakers and headed on our way.
We were heading for the Tōdai-ji temple, when we passed a wonderful market, so we took a little de-tour to browse the stalls. From one of them, we ended up buying some sweet cherry-blossom rice cakes (as they smelled delicious and were milk and soy free). Everything else we liked the look of was out of our price range, so we started to head towards the deer park instead.
For everyone who doesn’t know that Nara is famous for deer, there’s a big park in Nara where you walk amongst the deer. It isn’t like a zoo or anything, it’s just an open space, with ordinary paths and people, and the deer walk amongst the people and usually get fed crackers or something by whoever buys them such treats. That day, we saw more deer than I have ever seen in my life! They were so quaint and beautiful and I could have stayed with them all week if I had the chance.
After the deer park, we looked around Tōdai-ji Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple and Tōshōdai-ji Temple whilst also viewing some blossoms that were still blooming. We were also very lucky that, although it was hot, the sun kept hiding behind the clouds every 15 minutes or so, so we got a break from the direct blaze pretty frequently.
After seeing the historical sights, we went back to see the deer again, and this is where we spent the rest of our time in Nara. The city itself was so lovely, I could see us returning in the future sometime. As I’ve said in a previous blog, we cannot wait to not have to hit all the tourist attractions next time we’re in the Kansai area, so we can just relax some more and take in the surroundings without being so busy. However, we are still very grateful nonetheless, for these busy days. The things we have seen and the experiences we have had will be ones that stay with us forever!
Thank you once again to everyone who reads my blog and sends us messages. We love every one of you and hope that you have enjoyed reading this post as much as the others. Sorry the photo amounts are depleting, we took less and less pictures the more tired we got. I hope you still like the quality of those we take nonetheless. We also hope you are all well and that we can catch up soon.
All the best!
-Alice