Transit to Kyoto

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Up way too early (445 AM) to get to the Tsujiki fish market before we head out of town. Sadly didn't read the LP carefully enough and our 30 minute walk was rewarded with a small sign reminding us that the market is closed on the second and fourth wednesday of the month. Hopefully we will have the time and wherewithall to get back their on our way home. Went back to the hotel for a bit more much needed sleep before finally getting all our stuff together and heading for the train station. Ridiculously easy to get some tickets for Kyoto and we are flying along in the shinkansen as I write this. Been treated to a few excellent views of a snow clad Mt Fuji as we speed along but sadly the speed of my camera has not really been equal to capturing the moment. Very much looking forward to a slightly different angle on Japan in Kyoto.

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Arrived into Kyoto later in the afternoon than we had anticipated and took us a little while to get our bearings in a new city. The Gojo guesthouse was an absolute steal of a find with lovely wooden rooms in a ryokan style and super helpful staff on the desk to help us get our bearings. I still managed to get us lost on our first walk around town however we muddled our way through and ended up back at the station to appreciate its architecture before going up the local tower to check out Kyoto as night fell. The city is much larger than you expect, the feel on the street is of a very laid back small city but from the tower you can see that it spreads out in every direction. After trying my first pretty unsuccessful attempts at long elapse night photography we descended back onto the streets and went in look for the real Kyoto. After crossing some pretty uninspiring roads we finally found ourselves on some very pretty back alleys and stopped into a very nice little bar for some liquid sustenance to keep the walk going. Finally we wandered up the main shopping alleys which were a little bit of a disappointment as not quite as atmospheric as we might have hoped. We struggled somewhat to find a good place to stop and eat and ended up in a teriyaki bar. By the time we had finished dinner the heavens had opened so we had to resort to dashing for the nearest cab to get home.j

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