May 29
In the morning, we had another half-day guide, Tomo. Tomo was awesome; I’d say she was about our age, she’d lived all over the world though from Kyoto; her English was fabulous and we impressed her by how much we talked to her about food. I like talking about food. Remember, food is fun.
In the morning, we had another half-day guide, Tomo. Tomo was awesome; I’d say she was about our age, she’d lived all over the world though from Kyoto; her English was fabulous and we impressed her by how much we talked to her about food. I like talking about food. Remember, food is fun.
First stop was Sanjusagendo. I’ll let someone else describe it better than me. (is it obvious that I really want to finish this recap now, and I’m not even seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?) It really was incredible – the level of detail on the statues is unbelievable. The eyes, they follow you. The statues are all so different, some of them creepy as hell and some of them very peace-inducing. You're not allowed to take photos inside.
Sidebar: So when we drove up to the parking lot for this first stop, Tomo gasped. What, we said. She said, there’s no one here!
Is it closed?
No, it wasn’t closed, but by 10 a.m., there should be a lot more people here, there usually are a lot more people here.
It was like that at the Meiji Shrine as well, Noriko had told us.
Not like I minded, but tourism is down not just because of the economy but because of the flu. I’ll be dammed if I’m changing my vacation for hysteria, so we were good. But you know, I kind of really, really liked a scene not choked with crowds. But you should go. Travel is so important. I need to do it more. You should all find ways to do it.
And on another note, after all the hubbub about how expensive Japan is? It really isn’t that bad. I mean, it’s not a super-bargain, but I had a decent amount of Japanese yen left over and I only went to the ATM once, and that was preemptively. Really, I didn’t even need to go, in hindsight.
I think like any city it can be shockingly expensive, but so can NYC – go to the Four Seasons instead of Rainbow Falafel, and there you go. Hotels probably cost more, though for what you get, but we took subways and trains instead of cabs (we once took a cab like a mile from the Gion area of Kyoto to our hotel because of a sudden downpour and my slides had no traction). And we didn’t have drinks at the hotel because spending $25 for a Jack & Coke goes against everything I hold dear.
But it wasn’t that bad at all. Seriously. Go.
The gardens are beautiful:
Sidebar: So when we drove up to the parking lot for this first stop, Tomo gasped. What, we said. She said, there’s no one here!
Is it closed?
No, it wasn’t closed, but by 10 a.m., there should be a lot more people here, there usually are a lot more people here.
It was like that at the Meiji Shrine as well, Noriko had told us.
Not like I minded, but tourism is down not just because of the economy but because of the flu. I’ll be dammed if I’m changing my vacation for hysteria, so we were good. But you know, I kind of really, really liked a scene not choked with crowds. But you should go. Travel is so important. I need to do it more. You should all find ways to do it.
And on another note, after all the hubbub about how expensive Japan is? It really isn’t that bad. I mean, it’s not a super-bargain, but I had a decent amount of Japanese yen left over and I only went to the ATM once, and that was preemptively. Really, I didn’t even need to go, in hindsight.
I think like any city it can be shockingly expensive, but so can NYC – go to the Four Seasons instead of Rainbow Falafel, and there you go. Hotels probably cost more, though for what you get, but we took subways and trains instead of cabs (we once took a cab like a mile from the Gion area of Kyoto to our hotel because of a sudden downpour and my slides had no traction). And we didn’t have drinks at the hotel because spending $25 for a Jack & Coke goes against everything I hold dear.
But it wasn’t that bad at all. Seriously. Go.
The gardens are beautiful:
Then it was Golden Pavilion time, otherwise known as Kinkakuji Temple. 
This place was a lot more crowded, though lovely.
This place was a lot more crowded, though lovely.
I really had expected to dismiss Kyoto as a dodgy tourist mecca, like Florence (sorry, I know a lot of people adore it but I had a lousy experience there and it is lousy with tourists and thoroughly unpleasant).
But I was surprised how much I enjoyed the city.
Silver Pavilion I liked even more – not quite as crowded (the temple itself was undergoing some roof work, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the grounds. The gardens here were beautiful and varied, from exquisite sand gardens to knotty, rooty mossy carpty goodness. There is something about being there, you start to notice things like the angle of the moss, the pitch of a root, the smoothness of a handrail made from bamboo. You can’t not slow down and take things slower, and breathe. I liked that.
But I was surprised how much I enjoyed the city.
Silver Pavilion I liked even more – not quite as crowded (the temple itself was undergoing some roof work, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the grounds. The gardens here were beautiful and varied, from exquisite sand gardens to knotty, rooty mossy carpty goodness. There is something about being there, you start to notice things like the angle of the moss, the pitch of a root, the smoothness of a handrail made from bamboo. You can’t not slow down and take things slower, and breathe. I liked that.
Me @Silver Pavilion (we only like the candids Justin takes of me, otherwise I look retarded):
And now us:
And look, here we are in front of the sand garden, one of many gardens. It kind of reminded me a little of the Japanese Gardens in Portland. Maybe that's why I liked it.
Moss is nifty. Japanese moss is the niftiest, I think.
View from up the hill:
Lest you think we went all tree huggy, I bring you this:
At this point (possibly when she grasped how weird we were) Tomo bode us goodbye (actually no, the half day was over), and Justin and I strolled along the Philosophers’ Path. It was sunny and warm and the light speckled on the water just so, as I’m sure it does continually, entrancing and alluring.
And Japanese cats continue to ignore us.
We spotted another shrine on the way back – actually there were a ton, but this was incredible. Nanzenji shrine, I think it is.
And Japanese cats continue to ignore us.
We spotted another shrine on the way back – actually there were a ton, but this was incredible. Nanzenji shrine, I think it is.
Later on, we wandered around in search of dinner. We walked for a while. This is kind of what we did, often, unless I/we had a particular place in mind. We'd walk around looking for somewhere that looked good but not too good, kind of English friendly but not too English friendly, more like English unfriendly except for us. Then one of us would be like, "Oh, FINE! Let's go here! Here is fine! No really, it's FINE! I am HUNGRY!" and then we'd sit and eat and warm towels and sake would emerge from the delicious depths of the kitchen and it would all be good and we'd be all huggy-huggy-Japan-yay.
With clouds threatening, we decided to duck into this sushi place that looked pretty full. No one spoke a word of English, and we felt like dumb Americans ordering a tuna roll and a futomaki roll, but we weren't that hungry--at least not one we got these humungous Futomaki rolls! They were the size of an outstretched hand. OMG it was hilarious. There was like a cup of rice in each slice of the roll. Does Kyoto have a marathon? This is where I'm going to carbo load.
Big fucking sushi for big fucking Americans.
After this, we left the restaurant and it was pouring. We walked around in it a little whole, but my Adidas slides are worn through and have no traction and risk crutches + Carin in a foreign country, we grabbed a cab. It was only like $5.
Then Justin decided he wanted to walk back to Lawson and get one of those waffle ice cream things.
Posting...getting this online for the sake of time, not quality...
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