Our Trip to Kyoto

During our moms visit, we took a 3 day trip to Kyoto, which is a 2 hour train ride from Gifu City. Kyoto is a really popular tourist city. Most people vacationing in Japan usually see at least 2 cities- Tokyo for more of the modern side of Japan and Kyoto to see the historical side. We went during "Golden Week," which is when most everyone in Japan has the week off from work and usually travels within the country.

Getting There: We took the local train to Kyoto, with 1 transfer along the way. Unlike our luxurious ride to Tokyo on the bullet train, the local train had no assigned seats and was EXTREMELY crowded. Unfortunately, we had to stand the entire 2 hours and were packed like sardines! The views were really pretty along the way...with many rice fields and mountains.

Once we got to Kyoto, we were once again swarmed by the Japanese crowds. About 100 taxis were all lined up outside the train station and drove up one by one to the line of people patiently waiting. We waited in the line that curved around the station for about an hour. We still can't get over how polite and patient the Japanese people are!

We stayed in a ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese-style hotel. This was definitely a shocker for our moms! We all stayed in one room and slept on futons on the tatami-mat floor. Our pillows were filled with beans and our shower was a community shower located 2 floors down from our room. You can't get more traditional than this!

Kiyomizu Temple (a Unesco World Heritage Site): Located only a block from our hotel, our first stop was to one of the most famous temples in Japan. This temple was first built in 798, but the buildings were reconstructed in 1633. We could barely walk because there were so many Japanese tourists!

The views from the temple were beautiful...many trees and mountains.

Walking the Philosopher's Path: After leaving Kiyomizu Temple, we walked down the streets of Kyoto known as the Philosopher's Path. Along this walk, we went in many gift shops and saw some really pretty temples and shrines. We also passed some old houses and saw a few women who were geisha.

The path was almost all uphill, so we were exhausted by the end of the day! We stopped to have some ice cream along the way.

Yasaka Shrine: The Philosopher's Path led us to the Yasaka Shrine. This colorful shrine is just down the street from Gion and had a beautiful Japanese park behind it.

Maruyama Park: Behind the Yasaka Shrine was the Matuyama Park. We really enjoyed this park...it was beautiful, peaceful, and very Japanese. We found a bench and sat there for about an hour just talking and people watching.

Gion: Around 6:00, we walked to Gion, which is the famous geisha district. This is where the book and movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" takes place. We found a really nice Chinese restaurant located on the 5th floor of a building overlooking Gion corner. We had a great meal and then spent the rest of the night walking around.

Nijo Castle (a Unesco World Heritage Site): The next morning we started by taking a bus to the Nijo Castle. This castle was built in 1603. The shogun who lived here had 'nightingale floors' built inside, which are floors that sing and squeak at every move, making it difficult for intruders to walk around quietly. It was fun to walk around on the floors! Before entering the castle, we had to pass over the moat.

After seeing the inside of the castle, we walked around the gardens and climbed some stairs to see a view of the castle from a distance.

Holy Spirit Catholic Church: In the middle of the 2000 temples and shrines around Kyoto, we spotted a small Catholic church. Gloria was very excited and took a few minutes to say a prayer!

Kinkakuji- The Golden Pavilion (a Unesco World Heritage Site): This temple was built in 1397, but then burned to the ground in 1950. In 1955, a full reconstruction was built following the original design. It's pretty amazing seeing such a gold building.

Ryoanji Temple Rock Garden (a Unesco World Heritage Site): This rock garden is acknowledged to be one of the masterpieces of Japanese culture. It is very simple, with only 15 rocks and white sand. It was interesting to see, but we found the floral gardens more beautiful.

The third day we spent in Kyoto was much more slow-paced and relaxing. We bought many souvenirs, then headed back to Gifu to enjoy the last few days with our moms. We really enjoyed visiting Kyoto; it turned out to be one of our favorite cities in Japan!