I made my first stop at Kinkakuji, the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion". I'd seen pictures before and this was probably the site I was most looking forward to seeing in person.
It turned out to be one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen. Add blue skies and you end up with some amazing photos, not to mention a breathtaking walk around the garden.
The day was too nice to take the bus to my next two destinations, so I decided to walk: first to an art museum featuring 20th century Japanese traditional-style paintings and then the world-famous Ryōan-ji zen rock garden. (Don't tell anyone I said this, but I was a little underwhelmed with the garden...)
Thought I'd try the Imperial Palace next, only to discover after arriving that you can only be admitted inside the palace grounds if you are on a guided tour, for which you have to make an appointment in advance. Out of luck. I did get to find out just how tight their security is, though, when one boy from a group of high schoolers walked over and got too close to the outer wall (maybe he touched it?)...and set of the alarm! There was a booming siren and a woman's recorded voice shouting at people not to go near the walls. That excitement made the trip to the palace worth it, even though I never set foot inside.
From there I walked another 20 minutes to the Nijō Castle grounds and the Ninomaru Palace, arriving just in time to take a tour of the interior before they closed for the day, then have a walk through the gardens.
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| Blue skies above the Ninomaru Palace roofs |
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| View of Honmaru Palace in the late afternoon sunshine |
Hoping I hadn't run out of time, I found a bus headed in the direction of a site I had wanted to see on Wednesday, but didn't have time for: the Tō-ji Buddhist temple. What I really wanted to see was its pagoda, which is the tallest wooden structure in the country. In the end I got there 30 minutes after they had closed the gates, but luckily the tower is visible from the streets outside, and I got a pretty cool shot of it at dusk:
Finally, I made my way back to Kyoto Station where I had dinner reservations at a restaurant specializing in kyoyasai, a variety of vegetables from the Kyoto area. Here's what I ordered:
In the black bowl is a grilled vegetable salad with broccoli, tomato, pumpkin, naganegi (Japanese long onion), daikon (Japanese radish), nagaimo (a type of Japanese yam), green peppers, eggplant, lotus root, and an unidentifiable soft, white vegetable. On the plate is pumpkin and boiled vegetables wrapped with cheese and then deep-fried and served with sauce. In the glass is plum wine and black currant juice with added kyoyasai tomato and carrot juice. A very nice way to end the day!
Tomorrow is my last day...I'm spending most of the day in Osaka and then taking the bullet train back to Tokyo in the evening. Stay tuned for one more post tomorrow to complete the week.
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