Calgary – The Start of Our Northern Rockies Adventure
Aug 24, 2026 Day 1 - Hyatt, Calgary, Canada We arrived in Calgary on August 24th to begin The Northern Rockies tour with Smithsonian Journeys, guided by Darcie…
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Travel
Journeys, cultures, and the wonder of seeing the world anew.
Showing 10–18 of 39 articles
Kyoto (Day 4)
7/22/2026: Private Uji and Matcha Tea tour Six hours in Wazuka with Masae, and every minute earned its keep. We wandered through actual tea farms in Uji, pounded…
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Kyoto (Day 3 night tour)
July 21, 2026: Night Foodie Tour in Gion We wrapped the day with an evening food crawl — tempura, drinks, dessert, three stops, zero regrets. Our guide from…
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Creative Arts · Exploration · Travel
Kyoto (Day 3 morning)
July 21, 2026: The Kobo-ichi Market is a massive flea market held on the 21st of every month at To-ji Temple — over 1,000 stalls of antiques, vintage…
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Creative Arts · Exploration · Travel
Kyoto (Day 2 morning tour)
July 20, 2026: Our most educational day yet — four tours and a headful of wisdom from our guide Miji. Fun fact: Japan has 80,000 shrines and 82,000…
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Kyoto (Day 2 afternoon tour)
July 20, 2026: Nishiki Market Food Tour We dove into Nishiki Market — Kyoto's "Kitchen" — led by a cheerful 20-year-old guide Saki from Osaka. This narrow, bustling…
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Creative Arts · Exploration · Travel
Kyoto (Day 1 night tour)
July 19, 2026: After the morning tour, we treated ourselves to the best unagi of the trip at Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa — the name literally means "fourth generation,"…
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Kyoto (Day 1 morning tour)
July 19, 2026: Our 6:45 am tour kicked off with Mokoto — our wonderful 21-year-old guide (Scottish dad, Japanese mom), humble and friendly — plus a young couple…
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Kyoto (arrival)
July 18, 2026: Two-plus hours on the train from Tokyo landed us in Kyoto, where we checked into an Airbnb right across from Toji Temple — steps from…
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