Kyoto

LC and the shinkansen

Last week, we pulled the girls out of school for a few days and took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto.

The Japanese are very quiet people.  Our children are not.  While traveling at 300 kph (roughly 180 mph) got us to Kyoto in about 2.5 hours, I still felt sorry for the Japanese who were expecting a lot of peace and quiet on the trip.  To keep them semi-happy, we all shared some local bentos and then I gave the girls one of their birthday presents -kid cameras from Poppy and BB.  They LOVED them.  LC took over 500 pictures during our trip!

Shin Yokohama train station 

We arrived in the early afternoon, so we dropped our baggage and explored the surrounding neighborhood of our hotel

There are literally hundreds of beautiful temples and shrines all over the city

It is very popular for tourist to wear traditional Japanese kimono while visiting the city.

We had hoped to do a beautiful walk along the canal, but the girls were not feeling it.  So we opted for the zoo.

View from our hotel terrace.  Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and the sunsets were beautiful.

We quickly learned the public transportation system.  Easily the most tourist-friendly place I have visited.

Our first stop the next morning was the Nijo Castle, which is most famous for it's Nightingale floors.  The floors were designed to 'sing' when you walk on them, so the shogun would know if someone was approaching.  Leyton thought is was pretty cool.  Ellis was unimpressed.

The castle grounds were beautiful

Tourist

Our next stop was the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.  It was neat but very crowded.  These tourist are taking a spin in a rickshaw.

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Who needs a rickshaw when you can ride on Mommy and Daddy.  

To bribe our kids into good behavior, we promised ice cream.

The green tea and vanilla soft serve did not disappoint.

That evening, we attempted a trip to the Gion neighborhood, it hopes of dinner and Geisha spotting.

Ellis was so tired she feel fast asleep in the restaurant.

Still a beautiful evening

When reading about visiting Kyoto online, there is a lot mentioned about trouble finding food that your kids would eat.  While the girls, especially Ellis, exhibited less than ideal behavior, they loved the food.

The following day we visited the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion.  Very beautiful and very crowded.

You can see how excited E was.  We took our pictures and moved along as quickly as we could.

After a delicious lunch and a crowded bus trip, we made it to  Fushimi Inari Shrine.  Ellis was thrilled.

LC posing with what we called a dog, but is actually one of many fox statues at the shrine.

The entrance to the famous Torii Gate walk

There are literally thousands of gates, leading all the way up the mountain.

Again, E was not impressed.  Instead of venturing through the gates, she sat outside and pouted.

Our final evening, we decided to not subject the lovely people of Kyoto to any more of Ellis' delightful behavior.  So Ryan took the girls to the hotel play room, and I went in search of takeout.  On my successful journey, I saw a little more of a the beautiful city, and had a lovely conversation with a University of Kyoto Professor of Indian Philosophy.

Total brag shot.  Four people, four days.  And that is all our luggage.  

Kyoto, like Paris, is a city I would love to visit again.  Without small children.