A day in Kamakura city.

A few months ago, I was surprised with a day trip to Kamakura, Kanagawa.
If you weren't considering Kamakura on your list of places to visit while in Japan, I suggest you reconsider.

Kamakura is full of history, right on the beach, and has many many restaurants serving fresh, delicious seafood.

We started off the day renting bikes, which by the way is surprisingly inexpensive - about 20 USD for the entire day, and biking our way to see the big Buddha statue.

I imagined it to be a little bigger, but it was still very impressive!

If you walk to the right of the statue, you can walk inside the statue for a very small fee.
Warning: the entrance is very small, so not recommended for the claustrophobic!


Here's what the inside looks like (the picture doesn't do it justice, so go see it for yourself)

Kamakama in Kamakura. Try the "Nama shirasu"

YAY! LUNCH TIME!
If you're into raw seafood, I highly recommend Kamakama. Located a few minutes from Kamakura station.

I really wanted to try "nama shirasu" which translates to "raw whitebait".... hmmm doesn't sound as appetizing in English does it.
Apparently it's a Kamakura delicacy, and supposedly very good.

Sadly, the weather gods came in between the shirasu and me on this day.
According to the fishermen in the area, if the winds are too strong the day before, it's close to impossible to catch any shirasu to eat raw.

So, I didn't get to try the nama shirasu, but I did try the raw sea urchin-ikura(salmon roe)-boiled shirasu rice bowl... which was... MAGICAL.

The last thing we did before the sun set, was to go to as many temples as we could.
A lot of them close after dark, (because they don't install lights) so make sure to start your day early if you want to take pictures.

One in particular stood out the most. It was called... it was called....
Ok, I can't remember the name but I promise I'll find out!

It had a zen garden, and a gorgeous lake with cute turtles.
Enjoy the pictures!

What a wonderful weekend :)