41 days in japan.: Days 21 - 24: November 7th

This weekend we headed off to Kyoto with a long, long list of things to see and do. We were naively optimistic about how much we could pack into our 3 and a half day stay in this wonderful city. I think, for the first time in Japan, we truly felt the, well...the WEIGHT of travelling with two small children. Everything took much longer than anticipated. There were many many many snack and bathroom stops. It rained the whole time we were there to boot. We were also a bit frustrated because Kyoto seemed to have a fun and bustling nightlife -- one in which we could not take any part. Oh well! We were happy to see what we saw, and the city really isn't too far from Osaka, so we'll probably go back to try to see the sights we didn't get to.

We knew that Kyoto's train station was ultramodern and a "controversial" piece of architecture. But aside from that modern structure, we thought Kyoto would be all old temples and quaint cobblestone streets. While there was a lot of that, Kyoto was much busier and more cosmopolitan than we had expected. We both really liked the feel of the city -- the mix of old and new.

Interior of train station

Station at night

After we checked in at our hotel, we wandered around the neighborhood and found a bike shop, where Joe immediately befriended the owner. It so happens that he used to be a Keirin racer, and he was excited to find out that Joe had been to the races just before. He told us, in his broken English, "I used to race, but then I got in an accident" and pointed to a big scar on the back of his head. Whoops.

Next we went to Nishiki Market, a covered arcade where all types of interesting foodstuffs are sold. Pickled everything (pickled everything being a specialty of the region), sushi on a stick, steamed pork buns...and specialty items like wheat gluten skins and a mushroom that cost $50.

The next morning we headed out to Nishi Hongan-ji, a Buddhist temple built in 1591.

A water fountain and ladles are found outside temples for purifying yourself before entering

The halls were large, and it was almost magical to stand there in socks with an acre of tatami mat behind us, breathing in the incense and hearing the creaks of 417 year old wood.

We walked around the outer walls of the temple grounds as well:

Chinese gate at the entryway

It's a bit hard to see here, but the attention to detail in buildings like this (respected buildings from other civilizations as well) is pretty amazing

After that we boarded a bus to Nanzen-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple. We had to walk for a bit in the rain, and I was holding my umbrella over Archer in his stroller. A car passed us on the street, then stopped and parked. The driver, a woman, got out and offered me her umbrella! She actually APOLOGIZED because it was "not a very nice umbrella," but I couldn't take it as I didn't have a way to carry it. She understood and smiled, bowed and drove off. Wow.

When you approach Nanzen-ji, a gigantic San-mon (gate) greets you. Malcolm and I climbed up to the top for some lovely views.

Then into the temple where we saw our first Zen rock garden. The grounds were landscaped meticulously and the fall leaves were fantastic.

Sunday morning we woke up to more grey skies, but we pressed on! This time we headed to Nijo-jo, the castle built in 1603 for the Shogun. We couldn't take photos inside, but we saw some wonderful painted screens and woodcarving. One neat feature of the castle is its "nightingale" wooden floors which squeak in the most peculiar way whenever anyone steps on them. Even tiny Malcolm set them squeaking. Outside was another gorgeous garden.

Then we splurged on a cab ride over to Kinkaku-ji, the "Golden Temple." Walking through the red Japanese maples and coming out onto a pond and this exquisite golden pavillion was quite an experience.

The grounds were extremely crowded, though, and the incessant cries of "Kawaii!!" at the boys were beginning to wear on us, so we moved through pretty quickly. We did stop to have tea at this outdoor tea house. Our sweets had flecks of gold on them, which Archer thought was "pretty neat!"

Malcolm makes his own rock garden.

We had one last stop at Ryoan-ji, another Zen temple with a lovely pond and rock garden.

[Joe notes: I'll say it. I just really don't get rock gardens or why they're so nice to look at. This one was interesting, though, because the material for the walls had been heated in oil, which over time had seeped through and created a really neat pattern in the walls.]

There were giant carp in the pond that came up to ask us for breadcrumbs with their huge gaping mouths, a treat for the boys to see.

Monday morning it wasn't raining, so we headed to the Gion district to stroll the quaint streets and look for Geisha. We saw some, but we're pretty sure they were just women dressed up as Geisha getting photographed. There are services you can buy like Glamour Shots -- where you go and get made up and costumed and then photographed both in a studio and out in the city. Either way, it was neat to see the traditional garb. And these two really liked Archer.