Day 3 and 4-Travels and Temples
With my jet lag (almost) behind me, I finally made my first cross-country trip to a new place: Kyoto! I remember seeing pictures of temples, shrines and older buildings (along with cherry blossoms, but I’m kind of not in the right season for that) when I was younger and thought “I will go see that one day!”
First we started off with “breakfast” at the hotel…I mean, the chocolate shop that’s in the hotel…
I wish I could say that I had more than what is pictured, but I didn’t. It was a chocolate parfait and a hot matcha chocolate to drink-both incredibly delicious!
This is the vide of the inside of the shop-it was super cute and I was able to see the chocolatiers working behind the glass windows!
After a (mildly healthy) breakfast, I was off to Tokyo Station, and I must say it is one BUSY place!
I got my train ticket for a later train, affording me some time to wander and get to my platform in plenty of time. I even splurged and got the Green Car ticket (equivalent to first class), and I am so happy that I did!
These seats were comfortable, clean, and even had a foot rest if you wanted to nap on the train!
During my wanders in the train station, I happened upon a shop that sold bottles of wine and prosecco. I asked the cashier if I was able to drink on the train, and she (in her broken but understandable English) told me with great enthusiasm “Yes! For Shinkansen (bullet train)!” and gave me the ok sign. She then packaged up a plastic cup for me to bring on the train to drink out of, that way I don’t need to drink straight from the bottle! How sweet was she?!
About halfway along the line, I made small talk with the lady who sat next to me. She didn’t speak English very well (and my Japanese is lackluster at best) but we both pulled out our translator apps on our phones and had a conversation about how Kyoto was the original capital of Japan (formerly called Edo) until right before the start of the 20th century, and the buildings were protected during all the wars and natural disasters since then. It was very cool to hear from a local about the history of their country, and I was grateful that she and I put aside our language barrier to strike up a conversation!
Once I arrived to Kyoto station, I had to figure out the subway lines to get to my AirBnb. Luckily I have a pocket WiFi (that I rented from a company in Tokyo) and could connect to Google Maps-did you know that it gives you walking distances, trains to take, what stops to get on/off at, everything? So cool! I arrived to my AirBnb, which is next to the Nikishi Market, and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Today, I woke up early (around 6:45) and got ready for the day to walk to Hokan-ji Temple and whatever shrines/temples were nearby. I normally am not the best walker (I get bored easily), but the scenery walking to the Temple was so beautiful in the morning sunlight. The streets are the PERFECT mix of old and new, in my opinion!
After experiencing Hokan-ji Temple, I noticed that there was another temple nearby called Kiyomizu, so I decided to head that way. Kiyomizu Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I can see why. It is STUNNING! These pictures will never do what I saw in person justice!
After walking around the temple grounds, I decided to make my way back to my AirBnb but made a quick stop at a café for some breakfast. It was a stark contrast to the previous days’ breakfast, but oh so delicious and simple!
For now, I will stick close to the AirBnb (because my feet kind of hurt from this morning’s adventure), do some laundry, explore the market, and relax. Tonight I am going on an izakaya and bar crawl organized by a local to Kyoto and I am so excited to experience the bar food scene here!
