Beautiful Castles in Kyoto

---

Landed in Kyoto station at about 5.30am, 2.5 hours before check-in (in Japan, you do not just show up and you do not check in early or late, or hang around during the day!). We hung around until the corner cafe opened at 7 and had a lovely breakfast. We checked in to The Tour Club at 8 am (well, dropped our bags off, check in is not until 4 pm). Then we headed off to explore the extensive Imperial Palace gardens. There are 2 ornate little shrines within the grounds, the palace itself and beautiful forested grounds. Following this, we went to Nijo castle which was absolutely excellent. There were beautiful Kano screen paintings and amazing nightingale floors which squeak however lightly you try and walk on them in order to prevent intruding samurai. On the way back, we found a fabulous seafood restaurant called Merry Island with a lovely cheap 2 course set meal with soup and a delicious salmon pasta. Heading home we stopped off at the Kyoto Handicraft Centre. It is an excellent showcase for all Japanese crafts and art, with some 'quality' tat souvenirs as well. Some key highlights were beautiful prints we really wanted to purchase (maybe next time when we are loaded), handpainted fans and lots of Samurai swords.
Back to the Tour Club to check in. This is an excellent affordable choice in an expensive country. They have TVs, kettles and sinks in the rooms, a zen garden and internet. The kitchen is fairly limited (no cooker) but we could only really afford to eat supermarket noodles and the fantastic supermarket sushi anyway!
I have to also point out that the Japanese have public toilets everywhere, which is fabulous.

Drink of the Day: Kirin Beer

---