Mighty blue Centrair dragon

NGO Centrair mascots

Xmas Chicken Box

When in Rome, eat chicken for Christmas like the Romans do!

Ready for New Years

The entry gates at the shrines have been decorated in advance of the
New Years festivities.

Snakes!

Probably a real risk! The area outside this local shrine is densely
wooded and likely harbors piles of snakes, at least when it's warmer
out.

Autumn trip to Shirakawa-go

I've been working my way through putting the backlog of photos online, and this batch was at the top of the list to share. When my parents were visiting last month, we took a road trip north to Gifu prefecture to visit the 'traditional' village of Shirakawa. The site was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its unique three story thatched roof homes, but the quotes come in because the village is in danger of losing the designation because it has become less traditional and more of a tourist trap. Tourist trap or open-air museum, it's sure scenic in the fall!

View from the hill overlooking the village

The fall colors were amazing. It seemed like the majority of the trees had changed, but had all agreed not to drop any of their leaves. The sides of the valley were solid walls of color which fairly exploded when the sun broke through the clouds.

We ate some tasty food for the day, including fried potato cakes particular to the valley, and a savory rice bowl made with beef from the region. The residents of the village who were maintaining their more traditional occupations were primarily in agriculture, and even in November their gardens were in full swing.

Feel free to check out other photos of the afternoon over at G+:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111012416162387816811/albums/5816880940347624273