Family Trip
2003 to Japan
DAY 6: Kyoto Tour
|
 |
| Hie Shrine |
Today we slept in a
little for we were leaving Tokyo. We took a short walk in the morning
to the Hie Shrine which was right next to our hotel. As it turned out,
this week was the Shrine's festival. It had a lot of decorations out.
A neat respite in the middle of crazy Tokyo!
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| Hikari
Shinkansen to Kyoto |
We checked out of the hotel nearing
10:00am. We dragged our suitcases onto the subway to Tokyo station. We
obtained seat reservations for the Green Car on a Hikari Shinkansen to
Kyoto. We arrived at Kyoto at 1:30pm
 |
| Seiki Ryoken,
our hotel |
We had some trouble
finding the street that our hotel was on, but we did find it. Our hotel was the
Seiki Station Ryoken on the south side of the JR station. This is a very small,
modern Ryoken, or Japanese Inn. We were in a 5 tatami mat room with our own
bathroom. The room was very very small. The bathroom was tight, the
sink faucet
also doubling as the controls for the shower. The inn keepers were VERY nice! They lent us
umbrellas, and offered free internet access.
 |
| Nijo Castle |
After dropping off our
stuff, we headed to the Kyoto subway, Kamasuma line. The Kujo station was only a
short one block walk away. We transferred to the Tozai subway to go to
Nijojo-mae station, for Nijo Castle. We spent over one hour walking through this
castle, with a palace and gardens to be seen. The Palace had beautiful tapestries,
but no photographs allowed.
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| Yasaka Shrine |
After the castle we
went back to the subway to go to Higashiyama. We walked through a small market
to the Yasaka Shrine. This was a very beautiful shrine.
 |
| Gion District |
From here it was a short
walk to Gion. Gion is famous for Geisha. Geisha women are often misunderstood
by westerners. They are not prostitutes. They are entertainers at parties and
offer companionship not unlike some bartenders. Geisha do stick out with their
makeup, hair style and their beautiful kimonos. We did get a quick glance of one
in a taxi. But is was getting late. We walked to pick up the Hankyu subway ,
then transferred to the Kamasuma Subway where we went to the beautiful Kyoto Station.
 |
| Kyoto Station |
Kyoto Station is a very
modern and open station. The atrium is just a site to see. In the evening there
were neon lights glowing. There is also a 10th floor observation area. We went
to a wonderful Tonkatsu (fried pork or chicken cutlets) restaurant for dinner on the 9th floor. It was a perfect
meal.
By 9:30 we were back in
our small room. We set out the futons and went to sleep. Our feet let us know
that we had walked 8 miles today!
Continue to
Day
7
|
Kavanagh
