A spot of shopping in Kyoto

Under the beautiful blue sunshine, today we headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine, one of the big ticket items of any visit to Kyoto. The shrine is dedicated to Inari (the Shinto god of rice) and, like so many tourists, we headed up the mountain through the 10,000 torii gates. Having researched this shrine on the Internet, I was looking forward to a bit of a spiritual experience. That was dented a bit by the crowds of people taking selfies or 'arty' photos (no doubt bound for some social media site) at various spots along the way. Things got better as we headed further up the mountain and the numbers thinned out (the social media pack don't have a lot of stamina!) but it was a shame to see such a meaningful place overtaken by narcissists. Nevertheless, it is an amazing spot with numerous small shrines in little alcoves as you head up the mountain. The views of Kyoto from the top of the mountain were spectacular.

In the afternoon, we decided to do some shopping in the fabulous covered arcades near our apartment. The Nishiki Market is a food market which stretches through a huge area. I didn't realise that there were so many foods in the world that I have never actually seen or eaten. Despite my reluctance to try some of the delicacies, the market was a visual treat. The other two arcades, Teramachi and Shinkyogoku, have some fantastic shops. Ronan and I had a lovely time checking (and buying) them out.

Today I felt a bit defeated by the food issues I am facing in Japan. We walk through shop after shop of beautiful food and I can't eat any of it. Wheat is in everything in Japan. When they haven't used wheat, they have used soy sauce full of wheat. Travelling through Japan is the first time I have felt it is really hard to be a coeliac. Just when I was feeling down in the dumps, we discovered a little café called Papa Jon's Café. It is run by an American and he has a small range of gluten free cakes and biscuits. We paid the equivalent of $15 dollars for a gluten free banana and walnut cake I could eat in two bites, but I didn't care. I just wanted to feel that I could eat a treat in Japan.