Kyoto: Day 1

So day 1 of Kyoto actually includes my last post. I woke up really early to catch the 3 hour Shinkansen ride into Shin-Osaka station and met with my friend at 9:30. Her father is a baker, and gave us some different breads and pastries for us to have for breakfast while we took the local trains into Kyoto. It was the most delicious breakfast I had in Japan, and Japanese bakeries are amazing. I guess her dad was experimenting with a cranberry-tea leaf filled French roll. My friend was actually kind of embarrassed about it, I guess because it's an original and kind of a weird concept, but that turned out to be the best thing I have ever tasted. It was like a little sophisticated celebration in my mouth!

First thing we did when we arrived in Kyoto was dump our stuff in a coin locker and get on a bus to Kiyomizudera. Now, Kiyomizudera, besides being the most spiritual and beautiful place overlooking all of Kyoto, is also one of the few things I remember from my trip to Japan when I was 4. Kiyomizudera was my 4-year-old self's favorite memory of Japan, so when I went there this past summer, it was more than just site-seeing; It was more like returning to childhood, where your outlook on everything is magical. Now add that to the already spiritually radiating Kiyomizudera.

Unfortunately to get to Kiyomizudera, one must climb up this crazy hill, because Kiyomizu is way up in the mountains. It's pretty steep, but there are cute little shops the whole way up, so you can take a break to shop! (Bought my dad a really cool Kiyomizuyaki chawan)

I think it's amazing how the whole temple is just hanging off the side of the mountain, jutting out from all this green.

The picture below is of the water that brings long life. It's so cool to see it streaming down in front of you and it tastes delicious!! I wish they would bottle it and sell it to me here in the US. No I don't, that's a lie, but it's pretty tasty.

Oh! I thought this was hillarious! I guess they were doing some sort of restoration work or something on one of the buildings so it was covered up. But what's really funny is how they painted a picture of the structure on the outside, like we wouldn't notice the difference?



After spiritual enlightenment and drinking longevity water, it is important to chase it down with some tasty yuzu and kintoki flavored shaved ice! tip from the expert for you. ^^

After Kiyomizudera, I checked into my hotel and hit the Gion Matsuri with my friend. The Gion Matsuri is the most famous festival in Kyoto that goes on for the entire month of July every year. It's a huge deal, and I had no idea what it was, had never heard of it, and yet managed to go to Kyoto right in the middle of it, on time to catch the parade (which is only on one day), and booked a room in a hotel located right on the parade route. さすが偶然様だね。That's guuzensama for you...

It was unbelievably crowded and loud and filled with this amazing energy, especially later at night. They had closed down blocks and blocks of the busiest streets in downtown Kyoto and filled it with lines of stalls selling takoyaki, yakitori, karaage, yakisoba, kakigoori, and so much more. There were also games involving catching fish and turtles for prizes. Then, on the corners were these huge carts lit up with lanterns and boys sitting on top ringing a string of bells. (I found out the next day, that these were for the parade.)

The next picture will give you an idea of how many people were there. It was totally worse than Shibuya crossing. You know what's scary, this went on for blocks and blocks not just on this street, but also on the next 3 or 4 cross streets in either direction. Crazy crowded. I took this picture just by standing on my toes and holding the camera way above my head. I'm not standing on anything, so basically I'm just one other person in that sea of people, and it looks exactly the same behind me.

After completely stuffing my face with takoyaki and calpis flavored kakigoori (shaved ice) I said goodbye to my friend, walked back to my hotel room and died of exhaustion.