Nara, Japan

I've somehow been married for half a year! And by somehow I mean with morning kisses, dish-duty trade-offs, boring texts about who put gas in the car last, date nights featuring oven pizzas and Netflix, vacation planning, vacation taking, and lots of marveling at my husband's hair curls.

Our next honeymoon destination after Osaka was a day trip to Nara, on our way to Kyoto. Nara has a small resort town feel to it. Most people were clearly there for one attraction: to see the deer at Nara Park.

Okay, the deer AND the foliage.

Spoiler: so were we. We spent a lovely morning walking through the park, amazed at the peacefulness of the deer. Even this Wisconsin girl was impressed by the sheer amount of deer grazing, napping, and approaching the human visitors. They had no qualms about checking out bags and hands, hoping for a treat. Some deer even approached tourists with subtle, but clear bows, having learned that this action will pretty much always get them fed.

Nara was such a peaceful spot - I'm glad we decided to detour there. We ate our picnic lunch on a bench near the park, watching people and deer interact, and OMG those views! The turning of the leaves in Japan is a tourist attraction itself, and rivals the cherry blossoms in the spring.

Our last stop before Kyoto was Todai-ji Temple. The main hall of the temple is the largest wooden building in the world, even at 2/3 of its original size, and houses what is known as the Great Buddha - a 15 meter bronze Buddha statue. When I saw it was awe-inspiring, I mean like, jaw-dropped awe. We could only stand in amazement at what people were able to accomplish centuries a millennium ago.

It's hard to capture this guy's size...but that hand is about as tall as a person.

Sometimes it's nice to feel small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. In the shadow of the Great Buddha, we were just two people in a country where no one knew us and we knew no one but each other. It was strangely romantic.