Chilling in Kyoto

You know that feeling when you have achieved the must do’s in a city and anything else is a bonus? That was our last day in Kyoto. And it’s always those days that turn out to be the most relaxed and satisfying.

On good advice from our friend Katie, we headed to Fushimi Inari temple early to avoid the crowds. This temple is known for its thousands of vermilion tori gates which run over the mountainside. The top of the path apparently gives a glorious view over Kyoto. Unfortunately, carrying a 9kg baby in a carrier in 30 degree heat is not conducive to a mountain climb. So we did not make it to the top. However, we managed to see a good portion of the gates and they are a sight themselves. The colour really pops against the green trees.

After freshening up at our hotel, we made our way to Gingakuji Temple. Now, I asked Glenn to pick a temple that had a zen garden and he picked this one for me. But only when writing this blog did I realise that I wanted to see this temple all along but didn’t think we could fit it in. This temple was built in the late 1400’s and is nicknamed the Silver Pavilion as a contrast to the Golden Pavilion. However, it was never actually covered in silver. It was definitely a zen temple and the gardens were, again, so gorgeous. It’s like the Japanese even cultivate the weeds and moss to be perfect.

We had lunch at a restaurant near the temple. As usual, Gracie awoke just as our food was about to arrive to we played handball again. I must add here that in hot weather I am a huge fan of the cold soba noodles the Japanese do. With a little tempura, its a win win dish!

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After lunch we walked along the Philosophers Path. This is a stone path that runs along a canal. The path gets its name due to Nishida Kitaro, a famous Japanese philosopher, who apparently practiced meditation while taking this route to work. It is a “must see” spot during cherry blossom season. However, in the “low season” (ie when no cherry blossoms in bloom) it makes for a very very relaxing stroll with not many tourists and very cute shops along the way. I got some adorable stationery and cosmetics on our journey.

We walked all the way back to the hub of Kyoto and stopped by a park near our hotel to have a break and a beer. We then visited Yasaka Shrine which was right next door from our hotel.

This evening we had intended on getting out and doing more Geisha hunting. However, the weather had changed and we were feeling very lazy. So Glenn grabbed us some food for the nearest convenience store, Lawson, along with some beers and wine, to eat in our hotel room. This meal was probably the most relaxed meal I have had on the entire trip as Gracie was deep asleep and I didn’t have to worry about when she would wake. Plus the food from Lawson is pretty damn good!! Oh how life has changed!!