One of my favorite places to visit is Kyoto, Japan. The first time I traveled there, I was new to Asia and the amount of hustle and bustle in the streets surprised me. I had expected to see nothing but the serene Zen temple gardens I had so often viewed in books about Kyoto. The gardens there exist as oasis of calm and green and mindfully placed pebbles and stones and landscape in a gentle but constant cacophony of sounds that is modern-day Kyoto. I have come to understand that it is the contrast with the modern city that makes these quiet pools of beauty even more astonishing. — Pam Dixon
