Who needs AC when you have gold siding?
August 1, 2018
On our last full day in Kyoto (again incredibly hot), we went to Kinkaku-ji, Rokuon-ji, or The Golden Pavilion Temple. This Zen Buddhist temple was originally a villa for a wealthy family and then became a retirement home for one of the owners, before becoming a temple after his death. The temple was smaller than we pictured, but stunning. The top two levels are covered in gold and a Phoenix stands on top. As with all of the other temples we have visited it is surrounded by beautiful gardens and a pond. We also noticed that the trees have so much color here which makes it constantly look slightly like fall.
The Golden Pavilion Temple
Next, we headed to our first conveyor belt sushi place for lunch! Although not the most amazing sushi ever, it was much better than most of what we can get at home and it was so fun to grab whatever plate you liked as it passed by.
The locals seemed to like it!
In the afternoon we walked around our neighborhood and looked at all the fun shops. We decided we wanted to find a fan to take home. We decided to stop at Miyawaki Baisenan after learning that it was established in 1823 and serves as both a store and essentially a fan museum. We didn’t realize how many different designs, fabrics, and types of wood a fan could be made from!
We know we keep talking about food, but we’ve discovered that pretty much sums up how we travel, so of course we will discuss our dinner. It has been so much fun to try all the unique local foods so we went to a yakiniku place where you choose different types of meat and cook them on table-top grills. Beside being a lot of fun, we loved all the beef we ordered-wagyu, sirloin, and the “cut of the day”-whatever that was. Chuck may have had enough to drink, because he accidentally hit one of his chopsticks like a lever off the edge of the table and it went flying. The server laughed at him and got him a new pair.
We loved Kyoto! The food was incredible and everyone we encountered here was so incredibly nice and helpful. This city has such an interesting and rich history, combined with the modern city and lifestyle. It made for a really fun visit on our trip.
They have an incredible train system here that makes it so easy to get around. We were able to make so many day trips and see so much of this region.
We will miss Kyoto but are looking forward to seeing what the rest of Japan has to offer!
