The final day of the 2017Jaunting around Japan Art Tour with Ev Hales — and what a glorious sunny day in Kyoto to bid all 16 of us a fond sayonara.

We spent the morning at Nijō Castle, the home of the Tokugawa shōgun during the 250 years that Japan was virtually cut off from the world.  Conveniently located across the road from our hotel, it didn’t take long to rally the troops after breakfast.

The castle is set in magnificent grounds and the architecture is breathtaking.  We all toured the shōgun’s home first, before the artists spent a couple of hours sketching in the gardens.

Personally, I can never tire of the structure of the rooofs, the wood work, the gilding and the carvings.

Back to the hotel for a latish buffet lunch and then a show and tell session with all the art from the past two weeks on display for us all to admire and for Ev to critique.

That’s it!  Many are staying on to explore Kyoto’s many temples, shrines and World Heritage sites, while others are on the Shinkansen to the airport tomorrow.

As my mother was fond of saying, “he who tooteth not his own horn, his own horn shall not be tooteth.”  So allow me to toot.  This was arguably the best group we’ve had the pleasure of escorting on an art tour and I believe the itinerary worked well in allowing everyone to experience something of the real Japan, beyond the big cities, and to appreciate why Japan remains very close to our hearts as a beautiful, charming and unique country.

Sayonara — until May 2018, when we will be in Hokkaido on the next Ev Hales art adventure.