Looking back on 2011

2011, the year of the Rabbit, has turned out to be a rather dark year for Japan, and a year with long-lasting consequences.
From the first few months I remember the spectacularly beautiful January and some beautiful outings to the Shonan Coast and the Miura Peninsula. And of course visiting the Snow Monkeys!
March 2011 will remain in the memories of many for a long time. We lived through the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following days of the nuclear scare. The earth kept shaking for two months to come.
As a ray of light in early April, we spent some ethereally beautiful days in Kyoto during the cherry bloom. Also these days will remain in our memory forever.
Our highlights of late spring and early summer were cycling the Shimanami Kaido during the bloom of the citrus fruits and our trip to Hokkaido.
Luckily, the summer was not as hot as the last one had been, because with all the power saving measures that had to be implemented as a result of the earthquake, this could have been way worse than it was.
Towards the end of summer, we already had to prepare for moving back to Europe, but before that, we made an island escape to Niijima and we did our Great Round Trip, visiting among others Tottori and the Sanin Coast, Amanohashidate and Shirakawago. It’s a pity we couldn’t travel even more, we had such a good time. We left the country by boat, just the way we had arrived three years earlier. Since then, we’ve been decorating our new home in Geneva with the things we brought along from Japan, sometimes missing Japan. We are intending to do an extended trip to Japan in 2012 and are already looking forward to it.
Despite everything, we have good memories of 2011. For now, in keeping with the Japanese custom, I clean our home before the New Year!

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