Aleeza and I walked to Yoshida shrine, which is a big and beautiful complex of shrines on a hillside right down the street from our apartment. I think I got the better end of this deal, but unfortunately I did not bring my camera so you'll have to take my word for it.
After the shrine, we walked over to a Curry restaurant that I had scoped out a few days ago, and sure enough it was awesome. They had vegetarian curry, which Aleeza enjoyed although it was a bit spicy. The place was tiny, about 7 feet by fifteen feet, with seats for nine people at a small counter. The cooking pots are right in front of you, where the old lady who cooks the food has a small stool to sit on. The other employee was young guy who ran around serving the customers. He was very helpful, translating the menu for us on his cell phone - apparently "there's an app for that!"
Then we returned to the apartment and the girls all painted their toenails.
Next, we walked to the big intersection where we intended to board the bus for Kinkakuji. We got the bus right, but the map didn't tell the schedule, and after suffering through ten minutes of walking in the heat, we learned that the bus runs each half hour and we had just missed one. So we did what any civilized family would have done, we got ice cream.
A bus ride later and we were at the Golden Pavillion, Kinkakuji, the number one most popular tourist site in all of Kyoto, maybe in all of Japan. Here are some views:
OK, you get the idea. It was really crowded! Eventually the crowd thinned out and we got a nice view of the place.
It is incredibly beautiful, and with with a little imagination it is possible to picture it as a peaceful place. The gardens are also very pretty, and there are several other buildings in the complex, including a sweet "tea house" that is my favorite.
After the Golden Pavillion, we walked a few blocks to the second attraction of the afternoon...sushi!
The "Kaiten Zushi" (conveyer belt sushi) place that we knew of was right around the corner. This place is awesome! Benna had already mastered the system of special-ordering.
(Notice the green bracelet on her arm? That's the "Nagashima Spaland" admission pass from last week!)
Jana thinks she made a serious dent with her stack of plates.
I don't mean to boast, but I ate way more than her!
We all feasted on the things we liked, and tried a few things we didn't like. (Benna tried "hamburger" sushi! Jana and I tried "sardine" which was fishy.) Aleeza was happy with Udon and edamame.
Including sake (cold and delicious) and dessert (Melon slices, Chocolate-Banana parfait, Mango sorbet with fruit), the whole ordeal came to about 40 dollars. That's a sushi feast for a family of four!
The bus ride home was a bit more difficult because the tourist line we took earlier had stopped running for the day. I was pretty confident that I had figured out "plan B," then a nice lady started telling me not to get on this bus and go to the other side of the street and take a different bus. I politely thanked her and did not follow her advice - a risky move but it turned out I was correct about the bus, and had we taken her advice we would have wound up at the train station, far from home. Just goes to show you....
Tomorrow we will probably take it slow, as it will be super hot again. There is a "river festival" near the apartment in the afternoon. Two more weeks to go!
Great post! It brought back memories of our visits to the Golden Pavillion in 1975. As I recall though, the silver pavillion on the east side of town was even more popular and filled with shops of all kind. Were you planning to go there? Kaiten Zushi looks like fun. I wonder if mom and I will get to try it. In case we don't, eat a few rolls for us. Maybe you already did. All is well here. Love from mom and me.
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