5 days in Kyoto

Kyoto is smaller than Tokyo, with a lot of shrines, temples and traditional Japanese gardens. But it also has a lot of interesting and historic architecture dotted throughout the city. We loved exploring the areas called Ponchoto, Gion and the Nishiki Market, especially at night. Doing things at night was inevitable since it got dark around 5pm so we made the most of it. The city is vibrant and busy, full of tourists and an interesting mix of old and new. We rode the bus all over, staying out late to sip every last drop we could. We were all very fond of Kyoto by the end.

We spent a wonderful afternoon at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, where we walked through hundreds of red torii gates all the way to the top and were rewarded by a gorgeous view of the city.

We saw the Kyoto tower lit up at night from the central train station, and discovered a beautiful light display on the staircase at the station.

We walked through a bamboo forest at Arashiyama. It was packed with tourists.

We visited one the top, most famous temples, called Kinkaku-ji, which is unique because it’s golden. We were lucky because the day we were there it was sunny and bright, making it almost sparkle under the changing leaves.

We also visited a Zen garden at the Daitoku-ji Temple.

Not surprisingly, we ate some delicious ramen, sushi and tempura. The kids loved the sushi restaurants with conveyor belts and kept asking for them. We happened on one where we sat in a row at a counter and everyone had their own tablet to order from. The experience in itself was so fun and allowed the kids to make their own decisions about what they ate and how much to order. They surprisingly exercised very good self-control.

Jon and I are big fans of the ramen places where you watch them cook the food in front of you.

We also met up with Jacob, Sayuri and Poppy again, which was such a stroke of luck (again!). They brought us to Ichi, an area outside the city, famous because they grow tea there, including matcha. We walked around and had some matcha, of course, in liquid and ice cream form. This day, despite the cold, rainy weather, warmed my soul.