OkieDoc's Travels: A Sunny Day in Kyoto

I awoke on Friday morning early knowing that it was going to be a pretty day and that the city was filling up. This is the first weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival. My first goal was to go to Ryoan-Ji a 500+ year old Zen Buddhist temple with one of the oldest Zen Gardens in the world. And I wanted to beat the tour busses. Unfortunately (or fortunately—depending on your point of view) I got off the bus at the wrong stop forcing me to walk an additional 25min to the temple.

On my arrival, there was a bus full of elderly Brits who’s guide did not stop talking. I resolved to let it pass, and sat in mindful meditation at the garden (Zen gardens are rocks, What is a garden without plants?—something to meditate on). I thought I spent 10 min, but looking at my watch, I had sat there for an hour. Feeling at peace, I walked throughout the grounds. Then I made my way to Kinkakuji The Golden Pavilion. The guide books did not prepare me for its splendor. Thousands of people were there, but everyone was polite. The day had quickly warmed up into the mid 70’s with bright blue skies. All was right in the world.

Next, I got on a bus to Nijo Castle- a Feudal castle which acted as a keep for protecting the Imperial Palace. It was also where the Shogun met his feudal lords. They were so paranoid that they built the floorboards to squeak like Nightingales so that it was difficult to sneak up on the Shogun. They still do. By this time it was only noon, so I got back on the bus with the intention to walk around Gion (the old district of Kyoto), but I found the bikeshare bikes so I rode around for 2 hours exploring. I found someplace selling Green Tea Icecream. and another selling daifuku-which may be my new favorite food. Daifuku is mochi (a sticky, glutenous rice flour cake) around sweetened bean paste then rolled in soy flour. They are addicting. OK, that was lunch. Cake and Icecream!! I returned the bike and set out to take some pics of the places I saw.

Saw two Geisha getting some professional pictures taken, and then wandered into Maruyama park. There I saw the beginnings of a festival. I chose not to hang around since the crowds were getting thick, not my scene. But I did have my first Shiba-Doge sighting. Much happiness. (if a reader does not know what Doge is, good for you. You are obviously brighter than I)

By this time, I was really fatigued. Caught a very crowded bus back to my hotel where I chilled out before dinner. I had Udon Curry with beef. OMG it was good. I’ve never had Japanese Curry, and I like it.

I went back to my lucky bar of the two previous nights, but no interesting characters. Had a drink and then back to the hotel to sleep.

Now I’m on the Shinkasen to Hiroshima. I missed my first train (my watch was off by 3 min) so I had to transfer at Shin-Osaka. I figured it out pretty quickly. This train system is super efficient and easy to negotiate.