Nijo Castle and the Golden Pavilion

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Yesterday we walked to Nijo Castle, which was built in the 1600s. It's surrounded by little cherry blossom groves, which unfortunately haven't blossomed as much as they had in Osaka, but they're still trying. The main reason we went to the castle was for the nightingale floors - Tokugawa Ieyasu was quite paranoid about ninja assassins, so there were lots of hidden compartments for bodyguards and the floorboards were designed so that, if you step on them, they kind of sing like nightingales. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside, or walk with our boots on, so we had to swap them for sandals while we wandered around. Mark - of course, being the Ninja Incarnate - managed to keep the floorboards fairly silent. I, however, did not; they sang with every step I took!

Today we went to the Golden Pavilion, which is the most famous sight in Kyoto. The two upper floors of it are entirely covered in gold leaf, and even in the rain, it was beautiful. It sits on the edge of a pond, surrounded by trees, and as we were looking across at it, a heron flew across the front of it. Only in Japan, eh?

We really are loving Japan; all of the sights are just beautiful! And even the unrelenting rain is acceptable, because it makes everything seem greener. But we're having such a problem with food, because absolutely nothing is vegetarian! Yesterday we looked up three western/vegetarian restaurants in Kyoto, and we spent about three hours walking around trying to find them. Two are non-existent and one closed at 5pm. Starving and grumpy, we decided to just spend a fortune on public transport to get us back to the guesthouse, and we bought some cup noodles (Japanese Pot Noodles) on the way. Tonight, though, we found a little Italian place, which we'll probably end up going back to! It's unadventurous, I know, but all the Japanese seem to eat is fish! Eugh!

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Comments

[susan houlbrook]

Wow .....again
Hi to you both. What a fantastic place. I am so happy you are enjoying this trip of a lifetime. Dont worry about the lack of veggie food. You will more than make up for it in USA. Ceri, I want to ring you on your birthday. Please let me know the phone no and room no in plenty of time. Mumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Deborah]

lovely photos
Hi! You're getting some great pics! For food, if you find your way to Kyoto University, near the clock tower there there is a restaurant - it does some vegetarian dishes including cheese and brocoli pasta, loads of salads, and so on. It isn't expensive.

[qudsia]

wow!!!!
omg....remember that book we read? across the nightinagle floor! so cool dat u get to see a real nightingale floor. wish i was ther. sounds so amazing.

[Arran]

Fantastic
It's sad to know that Japan is not vegitarian friendly, unless they consider fish veggie? it all looks amazing over there, i think my next holiday abroad may have to be Japan, it just really appeals to me. I hope the rain stops or lessens soon and you can enjoy a dry beautiful journey.