Kyoto

We had a blast in Kyoto over the weekend. My feet were hurting after all the walking we did, but we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. The sun was out but not too hot and the cherry blossoms were still in full bloom. I don't think I would visit Kyoto at any other time of the year, it was just so beautiful!

The first day we left on the Shinkansen (high speed bullet trane seen here) at got to Kyoto around 12:30 pm. We checked in to our hotel and then took the bus to Kinkakuji (aka the Golden Pavillion) aptly named because it is covered in gold leaf.

Afterwards, we walked around this area of town and found a sushi-go-round for lunch. I love these places because you can eat a ton and it only cost like $10 for the two of us. We saw a few more temples and shrines as we wondered around this part of town. Kyoto has something like 5000 shrines/temples so you can't go more than a few blocks without seeing several.

The next day we started early and hit up the following:
1. Ginkakuji (Silver Pavillion although not covered in silver, but that was the original plan)
2. The Path of Philosophy (the guy that built Ginkakuji liked to walk along this canal to gain wisdom)
3. Kiyamizu-dera (Clear Water temple- gorgeous)
4. Fushimi-Inari Shrine (Path of 1000 torii gates- there were a lot of torii gates)Glenn on our Chu-hi break beforing taking on the 1000 torii gates. I don't think I've posted about Chu-hi but it is the best alcoholic drink that comes in a can. 8% alcohol and less than 100 calories. These things get you started! And they come in 8 or so delicious flavors. Yum!
Since the Cherry Blossoms were in bloom many of the shrines and tea tables and mini restaurants set up for you to maximize your cherry blossom viewing experience. Other places simply had benches/tables you could lounge around on to take in the flowers. I wanted to do this. Glenn was getting bored rather quickly though.
The next day we hit up Nijo Castle before catching the Shinkansen to Hiroshima at 1:30 pm.More posts to follow!