Thanks very much to both of you!

Already looked through your flikr photos Listless...very nice! Stuff like this just makes us very excited. Very nice to hear the "scope" of Nara. That's one thing very hard to judge from a distance..a place is great to visit, but for 1 day or 1 week? I'll definitely check into Asuka.

And miko thanks for your suggestions..these look very helpful. We do like rice and nori for breakfast, but a Western breakfast might be nice too. Here in Hawaii there's frequently a "Japanese style" station at the large fancy hotel breakfast buffets. These have rice, miso, natto, etc.

Any more suggestions from the forum? This is helping already!