Gion

We spent an inordinate amount of time getting to Kyoto, since the train was delayed due to heavy rain. By the time we arrived, it was the afternoon. We wandered through what turned out to be the biggest train station I have ever visited looking for food. We went to “ramen street” on the tenth floor, but the lines dissuaded us, so we headed for the hotel. When we got there, it was after three, and since most historic attractions in Kyoto close at four or five and we still hadn't eaten, I considered the day a loss. Fortunately, I was wrong! We walked around our neighborhood looking for a restaurant, and we ended up in a beautiful glass walled place that was surrounded by a zen garden. We were served by women in kimonos. It had a ten page menu, so we ended up getting noodles, sushi, and shabu shabu, which is meat cooked in a hot pot on the table. I finished it off with some fancy Japanese tea, which was refreshing. Thoroughly satiated, we walked down to Gion.

Gion is the historic geisha district, and I was excited to see it. The neighborhood sports historic architecture, but it is still functioning, so it became more interesting as the sun went down. We could peer inside the teahouses where geisha entertained, but we couldn't afford to go in. We wandered down the cobblestone streets for awhile, then went back.

canal outside of our hotel

she was an actress

Gion

Bobby liked this picture

Eastern Kyoto

I had planned to spend our only whole day in Kyoto in the temple and shrine district, which is the “must see” part of Tokyo. I suspected that we would get temple and shrine fatigue after awhile, but we held up pretty well. First on the list was Ginkaguji, which had the loveliest zen garden I have ever seen. We walked down the “path of philosophy,” a peaceful trail bordered by a stream on one side and some old style houses on the other. We wandered into a shrine that was in some disrepair, but had a lot of animal statues. While headed towards Heian Shrine, we stumbled across a shrine that was said to promote easy childbirth. We bumbled around the structure like the clueless foreigners we are and ended up dumping money in the money box in the hopes that that would be enough to get me some good childbirth juju. I think we were supposed to ring a bell, clap, or tie something on a tree, but we were not sure which. Heian shrine was massive, as promised, and had some nice gardens. While walking towards some more temples, we came across a cafe and had lunch. The nondescript looking place made a surprisingly good vegetable curry and honey ginger iced tea. We walked up a hill, stopping periodically to look at temples. We ended with Chion-in, another massive structure with “nightingale floors,” which deliberately creak so that occupants can hear intruders. We headed back, but not until after I bought and consumed ice cream from a vending machine.

Zen garden

People in kimonos!

On the side of the path of philosophy

Overgrown shrine

Rabbits at the childbirth shrine.  Rabbits are symbols of childbirth.

The childbirth shrine

Massive torii gates outside of Heian shrine

The garden with the stepping stones

Paper trees.  I think the papers are prayers..?

Chion-in

Beer vending machine

The gardens at Ginkaguji

Nijo-jo

Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until evening, so we decided to see one more thing before we left Kyoto. We settled on Nijo castle, which once housed a Tokugawa shogun. Bobby read that it was a castle designed to make your guests fell imprisoned. It had a lot of nightingale floors, as well as elaborately painted wall panels, all of which we were not allowed to photograph. We had to leave our shoes at the door, which is normal at temples, but this was the first shoes-off castle I visited. The gardens included a neat pond with concrete stepping stones. After we left the castle, we went to a ramen restaurant. I had eaten ramen previously, but we had not been to a ramen restaurant. The food was wonderful; a nice goodbye Japan.

The gate to Nijo castle

The main structure

A heron in the gardens

I guess they serve crab