Kyoto was the highlight of the weekend and should take over my 4th. Technically I was in Kyoto when the US was celebrating so I'm close. Tak-chan picked me up and we drove in his giant (not as big as Dad's) black truck with a GPS, TV, and other gadgets I can only wish for until we got to a parking place in some neighborhood on the outskirts of Kyoto. We parked the truck and the first temple was the Rokuon-ji Temple. It is covered in sheets of gold paper which is why it's called the Golden Pavilion. It is surrounded by tall bamboo and green trees everywhere, so it was a nice walkthrough. After all the sites there Tak-chan and I had a snack at a sweet booth and I bought my Grammy a postcard : )
A wishing place. I flipped a coin in for good measure.
The next temple was across town so we parked in an underground garage (scared the crud out of me when we suddenly drove in the middle of the street into and down what I thought was a subway entrance). This was a temple still in use and is the same sort as Ogawa's--black and gold, Tak-chan's too. After climbing what felt like 500 stairs, we got to the top and all the buildings surrounding the temple.
It was on the verge of raining, so we ran to the steps and took off our shoes and went inside. It's a gorgeous mural of black and gold everywhere and hanging ornaments, beautiful craftwork. We waited out turn, then went to the prayer bench where an increase was burning in a large pot. Tak-chan said "3 times" so we tossed more powder fuel on it just like he said, and ended with hands folded. Then outside the rain had cleared up and Tak-chan pointed up, smiled and said "because prayed" so that was a fun way to end the 2nd temple.
The third temple was my favorite and was way up into the mountains. We took a taxi from the 2nd temple and then had to walk up this shop street that was picture perfect and every store had me staring. Kiyomizu temple is known for it's association with love, and couples go there for good luck. At the top there was two stones in the ground spaced really far apart, and if you could walk with your eyes closed to the other stone, it supposed to predict your love will be recognized. I watched two American girls do it but I didn't want to gamble navigating alone and ruin my love life forever by missing the stone, so I decided not to predict the future : ) The view alone was worth the visit.
We made our way back down and stopped for ice cream at a cute shop because I couldn't figure out what sort of dessert it was. I picked strawberry and then realized this is the Japanese version of a Mister misty float, or I believe it's now an 'Arctic Freeze' from Dairy Queen. I was afraid it would ruin my dinner with it's surprising size (everything is smaller in Japan food wise) but we didn't eat until about 8:30 so I was glad I broke down for the treat.
Before we left though we had to run through the Gion district, which is a nice old part of town known for the Geishas. I was bummed though it turned out that because it was Sunday, they weren't outside, but I did see a Geisha house... and a maiko, which is a Geisha in training. I said I'd go back to check it out and Tak-chan was really bummed out we didn't see any. He agreed.
Prayer blocks
On the way back from Kyoto, Tak-chan was talking to Ogawa on the phone, who was in Nara with Hiroko for business. Since we both hadn't eaten, we were going to pick them up and eat together. Eventually we ended up at Gyu Kyoun or something like that, but it was a yakiniku(?) place where you order your meat raw, and then cook it on the grill in the middle of your table. I was definitely in the mood for steak and the strips of beef, some chicken, pork, all hit the spot. However, I ate mostly beef. When they asked who wanted rice I said 'no way' and Ogawa laughed. 'Just MEAT, NO RICE.' Who wants to pay for rice when you eat it daily? Then I peaked at the desserts and Ogawa said I could pick one. I picked the first one which looked like a sundae, but I knew it would be Japanese. Except, he went and ordered three of them so I could try them. I was thinking we would share, and it was more like 2.5 were for Casey, .5 for Tak-chan and Hiroko. I finally got Tak-chan to take half and ate my Japanese maple? not sure? sundae, the other sundae with vanilla and rice-chewy-sweets was good but... couldn't compare. It was the best meal I've had here! We had to stop at a convenience grocery on the way home for the kid's lunches so we didn't get home until 11:30 and I was exhausted and sweaty from a long day of stairs and humidity.
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