The Imperial City

Kiyomizu-dera

Kodai-ji

Kyoto was previously the imperial capital before Tokyo and still has many remnants of the Japanese past. We saw a few of its best sites in the two days we had quickly finding out why it is considered to be so culturally rich. However, when you first arrive off the bullet train you may wander what I am talking about. Looking around it is just a small almost depressing town of concrete. But just wait, you have to take a walk to discover the pockets of beautiful streets and shrine doors overlooking the city on the mountain side to truly understand.

First stop was the old imperial palace, naturally. Not nearly as impressive as the one in Tokyo as it is on a much smaller scale but interesting enough. The real treasures lay in Higashiyama along the mountain sides. You can walk along the side and run into one thing after another....Chion-in school of buddhism, Kodai-ji temple and Kiyomizu-dera temple just to name our favorites. Each had their own unique thing to see whether it was views, pagodas, gardens, bells, gates or nightingale floors. But another great thing about the walk was the actual streets...more cobblestone, lanterns, and wooden buildings holding every kind of shop and restaurant (not that we needed anymore shopping).

There was thankfully a Starbucks across the street from our hotel again for brekkie but we also had some great food while we were there:

For lunch we went to a tea house where we decided to experiment and try some more of what the Japanese do best. We opted for the sweetest tea on the menu and it was still too bitter for us. it may be good for you but it is probably an acquired taste.

For dinner it was another story. A friend recommended Ninja restaurant. It was located on the idyllic street of ponto-cho near Gion. We walked through the Nishiki food markets (imagine more markets in Japan!) and then spent the whole evening strolling down ponto-cho and Hanami-koji and Shinmonzen-dori streets in Gion. We felt transformed into a old japanese movie...traditional wooden buildings, red lanterns, bubbling rivers and cobblestone streets. Jared was desperately searching for a glimpse of a geisha in one of the back alley ways but no luck. The streets were full of restaurants to choose from and Ninja was a good choice. Yes as you can imagine this was a Ninja themed restaurant but they pulled it off quite well and the sushi was amazing!