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Published: January 25th 2010
Kyoto
One of my favorite sushi meals!Kyoto is a very cool city! Since I was on a group tour in Japan, most activities were with the entire group, but Kyoto was a time for ourselves. Our group leader Axel gave us a rundown on the city, the sights and the bus system. When we got into Kyoto, I went out to eat with a couple of the girls for a nice sushi meal and it was one of my favorites of the whole trip! Then, a group of us decided to go see Nijo Castle. Nijo Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Edo Shogunate, as the Kyoto residence for himself and his successors. It survives in its original form and is famous for its Momoyama architecture, decorated sliding doors and floors that squeak like nightingales when someone walks on them (a security measure against intruders). The outside of the castle is ornate and beautiful and the grounds inside are very serene and well-manicured. I saw some of the coolest trees in Japan on these grounds. There was a mote and plenty of plum trees, which was nice to see, because it was about a week before the cherry blossoms were supposed to bloom, so
Kyoto
Nijo Castle I was just missing out, and the plum trees were as close as I was going to get.
After a visit to Nijo Castle, we made our way to Kinkakuji Temple or "Golden Pavilion Temple." Kinkakuji Temple was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, whose son eventually converted the building into a Zen temple. This was my favorite temple in Japan. It was so peaceful and breathtaking. I took in the temple and the zen garden, then took a walk down these winding paths through all sorts of amazing trees, flowers and plants. It was such a calming feeling.
Later that evening, I met up with most of the group to head into Gion, a part of Kyoto that is known for it's geishas. Here we went out for a traditional Japanese style meal, called a hot pot. We had two types of sauces that were kept hot in the hot pot and we were served a variety of raw fish and meat to cook in either sauce, then eat. It was a delicious and fun meal. From here we walked the streets of Gion keeping our eyes peeled for
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Nijo Castle Grounds geishas. We saw three geishas in this time and snapped a few photos. They walk in quick, short steps and are extremely beautiful.
My next day in Kyoto could have been very frustrating, but I enjoyed what the day became instead of being annoyed by it. I set off on my own to go to Fushimi Inari Shrine which is famous for its countless torii gates. If you've seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, you'll remember these torii gates. Well, I never ended up finding the bus that was supposed to take me there. I sat at countless bus stops waiting for bus #2, which my bus schedule told me was the right one, but no matter how long I waited, it never came. I ended up in these random suburbs of Kyoto wandering aimlessly, but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless. When I did make it back into town, I decided to go to the Art Museum, but what do you know, it was closed! Figures! So, I finally made my way to the markets, which I knew were open and had some sashimi on a stick. Otherwise, I wasn't much in the mood for shopping, so I
Kyoto
Kinkakuji Temple or "Golden Pavilion Temple" just took in the scene and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the place.
So my long day in Kyoto seemed to have been quite fruitless, but I really didn't mind. I enjoyed seeing the suburbs and having calm time on multiple bus stop benches to take in the city. I walked a lot and I felt good about my time. I know Kyoto is a place that I could go back to and see so much more, but I was content with my time for now.
Then next morning we were up bright and early to head to Hakone and as we waited at the train station I had two options...McDonalds breakfast or donuts and pastries...I'd been trying so hard not to eat and drink American foods; I wanted to keep everything local the whole time, but I just did not feel like a sweet breakfast, so I had my most cliche American moment at the Kyoto train station...McDonalds and Starbucks! I couldn't resist, just this one morning. : )
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