Green in Japan

After two days of visiting the Buddhist temples in Kyoto, I was finding it hard to achieve true enlightenment. It would have been disrespectful to the Japanese if I were to kneel and pray to Buddha. It also felt like I was cheating on God. Although the temples were so beautiful and peaceful, it was tempting.

It wasn’t until we went to the hot springs in Hakone that I was able to reach Nirvana. Not only did we find ourselves in hot water, we were lucky enough to soak in a few of our favorite beverages.
First for what ailed us -pardon the pun - a big vat of beer.

Next we found a tub of green tea with all its powerful antioxidants.

Then since the Japanese claim that sake is great for the skin, we decided to emerse ourselves in a big tub of it.

Having our fill we needed a little rejuvination so we jumped into a tub of freshly brewed coffee .

Finally my chance for true enlightenment , a big pool of red wine! I am sorry that I didn't get any photos, but I found this one of the red wine pool.

A perfect ending to this surreal spa experience found us soaking our feet in a pool of little fish. They nibbled off all the dead skin on and between our toes. It was a strange vibrating sensation that actually felt good. The fish were mostly attracted to John's big white feet. I guess they liked American food or perhaps they tasted German faire-who knows.