We arrived in Kyoto via train this morning. If Virginia had public transportation like this, I might not even have a car.
We stopped in the wrong part of the city when we first arrived, and took a short walk through a quiet neighborhood. We finally stopped at a Starbucks and got our bearings, before hopping another train to the area we should have headed to in the first place. I enjoyed the brief pause and did a little people watching. We still made it to the Kyoto Garden hotel a little early, so they held our bags, and we decided to get a jump start on our sight-seeing.
We headed out to the Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji first. A Buddhist temple nestled in a gorgeous slice of greenery. It’s a pretty straight forward visit, and a one-way walk around the temple grounds. It was beautiful, but I think I need to learn the Japanese word for ‘tourist trap’. There was no shortage in methods to separate visitors from their money. But, we weren’t going to let that stop us from enjoying the visit. At a very busy shrine, we purchased and lit candles in a prayer for good fortune. Mine was ‘find employment’. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask for a little extra help.
Our next bus ride taught us to avoid the bus at rush hour. We were packed in about as tight as we could be and still trying to let a few more on. The worst of it was being near the back and needing to exit at the front. Fortunately, a large group of people left a stop or two before we needed to get off ourselves.
We headed over to Nijo Castle, since it was only a quick walk from the hotel. We slipped off our shoes and took a tour of the palace. The architecture was beautiful! The wall paintings included pine trees, birds, and a couple tigers. There are intricate wood carvings of flowers, branches, and birds above the doors and along the ceilings. The ceilings themselves featured painted patterns. The nightingale floors were notable as well. Each step a visitor took was greeted with a bird-like squeak. Sadly, there was a no photography policy, so you’ll have to Google the castle and find some pictures for yourself. After the palace, we toured the gardens around it. Heavily maintained, they were a sight to see!
After we finished at the castle, we headed back to the hotel and checked in. We paused for a bit to get ourselves straight, then set out to find some dinner. I couldn’t tell you the name of the place, but we had a delicious spread. I had a green tea flavored creamy drink, garnished with these little coffee flavored gelatin cubes. I snagged an okonomiyaki, a savory cabbage pancake which I really must learn how to make, as a main dish, and we tried various other items that Evan and Rachel picked out. We each chose a dessert, and I decided this was the easiest time to be adventurous. I ordered what was, on an English-language menu, labelled as a “cheese pudding,” served with a sorbet. It turned out to be a custard, about the texture of a flan you’d get in a Mexican restaurant back in Virginia. The taste was pretty comparable to cheesecake, and it was served with an orange marmalade glaze. I was thoroughly pleased.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to plot how we’ll take on the city tomorrow. I won’t bother covering that until it has already happened.
Until tomorrow!
