On day 5, we slept in. Today we would visit the temples that make Kyoto such a popular and beautiful place to see. But first, we had to eat soba (buckwheat) noodles at a 600-year old restaurant.
With our bus day pass, we caught a line that took us on the south end of the Imperial Palace green area. Off the bus, we walked the alley to the restaurant. There we ran into a Japanese family (mother and two daughters) who live in New York with their mother/grandmother. We sat next to them during lunch.
[PHOTO FROM LUNCH]
A wonderful lunch and great introduction to traditional Japanese food for our new arrivals. Though I sweat through lunch and had trouble sitting knees-crossed, it was definitely one of my favorite meals from our time in Japan. So after lunch, the grandmother of our new found friends listed several points of interest and stops for food for Haynes. She had been studying English with a focus on tourism with an English-speaking ex-pat who wrote a book on visiting Kyoto - with her knowledge, she proved to be a great guide.
Next we made our way to Ginkakuji (silver temple) – a temple meant to be covered in silver (until the owner ran out of funds) and surrounded by a beautiful example of Japanese gardens, a landscape filled with moss covered forest beds and designer rock beds meticulously kept like rows and rows of ant hills.
[PHOTO OF FOREST]
There we were Wisconsined – a new term we created after a kid from Wisconsin took a group photo of us but failed to capture the temple in the background. Because of this experience we started carrying around a green screen to snap group photos – later Haynes will fill in the background with another superimposed shot we took with the group removed. No, not really, but I think I just created a new product to market to travelers.
From the temple, with several stops for sweet snacks, we walked the Philosopher’s trail and passed a shop where I bought chopsticks and ran into a bicycle man who sold Zach a painted rock and gave us each a piece of candy. At the end of the path, we reached a beautiful temple next to the “water bridge” (or viaduct) – a Roman style, brick made piece of architecture where we posed for our first set of band photos.
[BAND PHOTO]
From there, we caught a bus back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out back near Kyoto City Hall (near to where we ate lunch) to eat yakitori (Japanese kebabs). My favorite = the chicken heart. We also drank hot and cold sake. From here, we left to meet up with Tristan for karaoke. Unfortunately, Erin's phone died and so we didn't have the exact location. We split the group into search parties and walked up and down the arcade (covered shopping) areas, but could not find him. With what seemed at the time just a bit of energy left, we found the closest karaoke location and squeezed into the room for an hour, bringing in our own beer. Here, I will end for the night. As you can imagine, loud Americans, even louder competing Riley's, and a stereotypical (and maybe offensive) playlist of songs - from Styx' "Mr. Roboto" to Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."
No comments:
Post a Comment