I visited Kyoto with E', a great gal in my program, who is actually from A-T-L also. We traveled from Nagoya together. First we made a stop at Nagoya Castle, since she hadn't seen it yet. It was our first time trying to navigate Kyoto also so it took us until the afternoon to arrive at our destination (too late to visit temples). We met up with our lovely hostess: V'. Along with C' (who had been visiting for the weekend but would be leaving that evening), we had a delicious dinner of noodles in the Uji region of Kyoto.
C', E', and I went into Kyoto to visit the Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺) temple and walk around the cute shopping area. Unfortunately, after walking out of one store, they all began to close their doors (which in Japan is equivalent to pulling down a garage door). Everything closes at 6pm! The temple we visited is famous because you can view the city of Kyoto from its balcony high in the mountains. We were fortunate to be there around dusk/sunset. They say if you drink from the fountain, you will gain intellect... so I drank two cups ;-)
Then we headed into downtown Kyoto for the Gion festival: one of the top 3 festivals in Japan. Each of the 32(?) districts in Kyoto made a float (some are assigned to be of the tall and some of the shorter variety). For three days before the parade, the floats are displayed at night: the lanterns are lit and the floats are manned (many of them playing music (chimes) all night. The streets are crowded with people and vendors. I tried some fried octopus balls (which is the "specialty of Osaka," so I was kind of cheating on Osaka). I also had some candied cherries and shaved ice.
When the night concluded, E' and I took the train to V's old apartment. She was moving so she had both her old and new apartment. Her old apartment had two beds so both E' and I had a nice place to sleep. It was generous of V' to let us stay. She offered to let us stay for the week but we both had to return for work.
The next day E' and I visited the Byodoin temple in Uji, Kyoto. It is famous for being on the 10 yen coin. The temple has a lake and "garden" area. It is very beautiful and my favorite temple, thus far, because of its old-style beauty and lack of crowds.
We headed into downtown Kyoto to see the Gion Festival parade the next day. While they were the same floats, they had a completely different feel while moving down the streets. None of the floats were engine powered. Instead, the tall ones were pulled by ropes and steered by wedges (to adjust the wheel angles). The shorter floats were pushed along the sides, by a much smaller crew.
After the parade, we took the bus to the golden Kinkakuji (金閣寺) temple. It was beautiful but a bit gawky/fake looking in its golden paint. It was also extremely crowded. Still, it is a must-see.
We also visited Ryonji (龍安寺), which had beautiful grounds and a rock garden. It was suppose to be the place where people trained with "zen masters."
I had such a joyful time during my visit to Kyoto. The great city. The great festival. The great company.
No comments:
Post a Comment