Kyoto Exploring

November 26th, 2018

We did really well with switching over to the local time.  Up at 7:00 this morning.  Saylor slept in the tatami room on the floor last night.  Very sweet to see her make her bed roll this morning.  Time to say goodbye to Tokyo.  Of course, not without a packed train.  We thought for sure we would have to take the next one, but everyone pushed (politely) and squeezed in.  When I hear the term packed like a can of sardines my mind it will definitely take me back to these train rides.  On the way to the next train I spotted Eataly.  I never made it there in NYC so this was my chance.  So many amazing things to look at.  They actually had a cannoli bar with a giant chocolate fountain streaming down from the ceiling. 

On the Shinconsin aka Bullet Train now.  It travels almost 200 mph.  It would be significantly cheaper to fly but Andy thought it would be a fun opportunity for the kids and it was.   We also got to see Mt. Fuji with it's beautiful snow cap. 

We arrived in Kyoto.  The sun is out and it is beautiful. Checked into the Capsule Hotel.  We went into our room and what a surprise! A small full bed and a single.  Plus the room felt like a sauna.   Tried to figure out the thermostat but it is in Japanese.  Not so easy.  Hmmmm, this is going to be interesting. 

Back down to the front desk.  Turns out since we booked the room on Agoda they don't really consider the size of the family for the room even though we indicated a family of 4.  The room is actually for one adult and one child under 12.  Thankfully Andy brought a camp mat just for this kind of situation.  The front desk said they could turn the temp down for us.  For some crazy reason the temperature can't go below 68 before midnight and I guarantee it was way hotter than that all night!

We went to the Fushimi-inari -taisha Shrine and 10,000 gates (painted in a vibrant, rich orange).  We walked through all the gates and it was peaceful even with all the others around. There was a big tree trunk that everyone walked up to and rubbed their hands all over it and then all over their bodies.  We had no idea why, but was not going to miss out on the opportunity for good luck or energy especially after all of our bad fortunes we got at the shrine in Tokyo! :-)

Walking back down to the train station there are a bunch of food stalls.  Again, amazing choices.  We got noodles, beef yakatori, some interesting dried persimmons and the most amazing crisp pork belly up and served on a skewer!

 

Got off at the Gion station to explore the area.  The highlight was a place called The Candy Show.  Right in front of you they make the hard candies that are the cute little round ones with a design or picture in the middle.  It was really fascinating to watch.  They are on instagram so be sure and check it out.

 

Saylor was tired and stayed behind to catch up on school work, but Andy, Hudson and I headed out for a katsu dinner at Buta Gorilla (Pork Gorilla) in the Nishiki Market  area.  A nice, happening area but yet still very quant.  We noticed a restaurant where you have to take your shoes off as you enter.  I love that! We got pork katsu, shrimp katsu and a wonderful Japanese beer to wash it down.  Before dinner they brought a bowl with some kind of granular ingredient in it with a wooden dowel to grind it to a powder form.  Then you add one of the sauces from the table to it.  It was tasty sauce for the katsu even though we had no idea what it was.  After we got a bean fish for dessert.  They are these cute fish made out of batter.  They open their mouth and they add the filling that we picked.  My vote was of course for chocolate and then the boys voted for cookies and cream ice cream to go in the fish mouth.  A nice end to a busy day. Back to the sauna room  we go!