First evening in Kyoto

Wow. Kyoto is a beautiful city, all the guidebook descriptions just hint at it, but standing at the side of the Kamo river, watching the Herons and Cranes and dragonflies and turtles, it is easy to forget we are in the middle of a large modern city. Our "guest house" apartment is samller than I had expected, but it will do, it is efficient and clean.

So - Last night we went walking to find food, and stumbled onto a street festival. There was all kinds of food (fried fish balls, grilled squid on a stick, roasted corn, french fries, etc.) and you could also buy glasses of beer or cups of pina colada. Wall to wall people, many of the kids dressed in kimonos. There was also music and games, it was like walking through a movie set. It was total sensory overload for me after about 36 hours of continuous travel! We walked right through and decided to find a restaurant. First stop was a tiny chinese place, where there was no menu at all, let alone an english menu! The propreiters, a toothless little old man and his wife, basically shooed us out the door, so we kept walking and found another little place with a younger staff who helped us with their two or three words of english. Turns out it was a yakitori place - grilled meat on a stick. We had five different kinds of chicken on a stick, rice and edamame. Came to about 15 bucks, not too bad!

After that, we walked to the nearby "sento" (public bath) for a soak. I felt rather nervous, Jana and the girls of course were in the women's side, and I was alone with the men. It was a small neighborhood place, no other foreigners and of course nobody speaks a word of English. I managed to get through it without committing any grievous sins (at least none that I am aware of!) and man did that soak feel good! When I was in Japan as a kid, I didn't deal with shaving, but as an adult I can say that this is a great way to live. Shaving is really great at the sento - you are naked of course, sitting on a stool with a spigot and a bucket and a mirror. You splash hot water all over, lather up and shave, then pour hot water over your head. I had a really nice shave! (Sorry if that was too much detail....) After washing from head to toe, it was time to soak. (The japanese men, I noticed, spent much more time scrubbing themselves. Hmmmmm...am I dirty?) There were a number of pools to soak in. Hot, hotter, and even hotter. There was a mineral pool with fluorescent blue water, and a whirlpool tub. Also, there was a cold pool and an "electric" pool that nobody was in so I wasn't about to experiment! There was also a dry sauna that all the Japanese men went into, but I skipped it this time. After the sento, I was so refreshed, and we walked home together along the quiet narrow street with brilliant stars overhead. Amazing.

Sleep came easily, and I am so happy to say that I crashed from 10 pm until 7 am, no problem. Will I somehow miraculously dodge jet lag? We'll see!

Love to you all -- Aaron