Getting to know Kyoto

Our first full day in Kyoto. We had beautiful weather. Blue skies, sunny and very, very cold. The temperature was 3 degrees but the breeze took the apparent temperature to around -2 degrees Celsius. Fantastic weather for sightseeing. I have decided that I am going to do all my travel in winter. It is great to rug up and get outside and walk around a new city.

Kyoto is a terrific city. In the middle of the city, there are wide open streets and gorgeous high end shops. It is a little reminiscent of the Paris end of Collins street in Melbourne. Off the major streets are a huge number of tiny laneways full of quirky shops, amazing Japanese architecture and cool restaurants, cafes and bars. Our apartment is in one of these laneways. It is small but modern and swish. The downside of living in this super cool neighbourhood is that the supermarkets have inner city (rather than suburban) prices. Oh well. Ce la vie.

Buses are the way to get around Kyoto. We got one day passes for only 500 yen. We started by heading to the best known district of Kyoto - Gion. I am a little ashamed to say my entire knowledge of Kyoto all comes from Memoirs of a Geisha but, there it is. It is a beautiful district with a great feel of old Japan. The only problem was that without an English speaking guide, we weren't able to get any information on the particular buildings. I really wanted to know which buildings were actual ochayas (teahouses) and which ones weren't. 

We then walked to nearby Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park. It was a lovely way to spend the morning and, even though there aren't any cherry blossoms at this time of year, the lack of crowds is a pretty fair tradeoff.

Like many trips, mistakes can be very valuable. That was the case for us today. We wanted to head to the Kyoto National Museum but we jumped on the bus headed north instead of south. Our subsequent loop around central Kyoto didn't get us to the museum, but it did give us a good understanding of how the buses work. Not a wasted trip after all.

After lunch, Ian and I headed out without the kids. We went to Nijo Castle next to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Gardens. The Nijo Castle was where the shogun ruler of Japan agreed to hand back control of the country to the Emperor. The was the end of the shogunate and the Edo period of Japan. The castle is beautifully preserved and the English language explanations of the subtleties in architectural design explained a lot about the power structures that applied in the 17th - 19th centuries.

We didn't get home until after dark but it felt like a great day sightseeing in a new city.