Kyoto

After a really neat ride on the superfast Shinkansen Bullet Train we arrived at the beautiful new Kyoto Central Rail Station. We dumped our bag, got some lunch and started our lightning fast Kyoto sightseeing. We walked around to familiarize ourselves with the area around the hotel and then decided to do the hop on hop off bus. Big mistake. It had no roof and we literally froze our asses off. We had three layers including our warm jackets and that wasn't even close. We were huddled against each other and couldn't wait to get off. I could hardly pay attention. We got hot tea as quick as possible and then did a really cool thing. We went on a night walking tour of the Gion District which is the home of the Geisha. It was just fabulous and we even got to see a few real live Geisha going about their business. What a wonderful treat. The guide was wonderful and she spoke fluent English so we didn't have any trouble understanding her. It was so interesting seeing this sub culture up close and personal after reading about it for years. And we were quite lucky to actually see several of them close up and they did not mind having their photos taken. I was so thrilled. After the tour we had our usual authentic Japanese dinner of soup with noodles and shrimp. We went to a tiny local place where they treated us like family. Our waitress thought she was our mother. After she gave us the loaded plates and bowls she ordered us to dunk the shrimp into the soup and then eat it. She kept coming over to see if we were doing it right. Then she brought us forks. It was so funny.

We decided to take the Metro back to the hotel and wound up somewhere in the suburbs but found our way back with the help of a Metro employee. We will be here one more day and hope to see some more sights before boarding the Sinkansen for the trip back to Tokyo where we will have one more day. I think we are finally getting tired and my eyes are beginning to slant a bit. I love the sights, the people and the food but it is really too cold. I had heard that people here were pushy and rude but that is not true at all. We found everyone very helpful up to the point of going completely out of their way to assist us and lots of people just wanted to talk to us and find out where we were from.

Tonight we have a huge hotel room with a balcony which we wouldn't dare use or we would freeze to death. They have all sorts of interesting amenities in the hotels here. I have yet to figure out what some of them are. They also give you slippers and tiny little pajamas. The toilets all have bidets and the first time I sat down I nearly jumped out of my skin. I really love Kyoto and wish we had more time to visit all the temples and castles. I have done a lot of ready about this period in Japanese history and to actually see these things is outstanding. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for hundreds of years including the Edo period during the height of the Samauri era so there is a wealth of historical buildings and areas to see. What an interesting and fascinating country Japan was back in those days. Photos and words don't do it justice.

One last tidbit: we were picked up by a black cab that looked like a limo but was really just an ordinary old Toyota cab. It was shiny and immaculate and ran like a dream. But the interesting thing was the driver. He wore a black business suit and white gloves! They all do. How very cute.

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