Kyoto Observations

So much for "regular" posts.  Two days have gone by and I haven't turned to the blog.  And this afternoon, I wrote a long post, only to have it mysteriously disappear by an electronic gremlin on my notebook.  Ouch.

In any event, a few things.  The weather has been great.  We haven't had any rain to speak of (only at nights) and the days have been clear and pleasant.  So that's a good thing.

Tuesday we bagged a couple of Kyoto "top ten" sights.  After an absolutely fabulous Japanese breakfast at our ryokan, we took a relatively leisurely walk across the city to Nijo-Jo Castle.  I say relatively leisurely because there were very few pottery or other type of craft shops that Andrea didn't walk into and review the display.  But we are on vacation, after all, and it is certainly a way to see the city.

Nijo-jo Castle was the place where the shoguns stayed when they came to Kyoto to visit the Emperor, whose residence was not far away here.  There is an inner castle and and an outer castle, both of which are surrounded by moats.  Impressive and imposing buildings from the outside, they are very simple on the inside.  If we can get some photos downloaded from the camera, I will try to post a shot or two we took here.



The day was getting on, and four type A people were not to be content with having bagged only one attraction on the day.  So we took a cab up to Kinkakuji, the "Golden Pavilion."  Good call.  It was gorgeous.

The "Golden Pavilion" is in a beautiful setting, and the fall colors enhanced that beauty.

We topped off the day with a delicious kaiseki meal at our ryokan.  We elected to have only one dinner at the ryokan during our stay, and we were all glad that we did.  The dining area is classic ryokan, looking out into a little garden-like area.  It is small, with only about 6 or 7 tables.  Delicious food, course after course, presented and served in exquisitely beautiful fashion.

Wednesday was a day of temples, as we walked around the Hagashiyama area where we are staying.  We visited Kodaiji Temple and Kiyomizu Temple, walking along some beautiful streets in the area.  Along the way, we saw quite a number of maiko, who are apprentice geisha dressed in the traditional garb - kimono, big obi, white face paint.  It seemed odd to see so many.  Turns out that we saw a shop that will dress you up like a maiko and this was no doubt what happened.   A number of them were too eager to pose for pictures with tourists, and a couple even smiled and showed lipstick on their teeth.  No self-respecting maiko would have lipstick on her teeth!

We thought these two were legit.

These three were definitely not!