We had a late start to the day, which turned out ok. Breakfast, Japanese for me and Ken swapped his out for the Western style. Good as usual.
We needed to get another bus. The public transport is fantastic, but we have a very brisk 10-15 minute walk to most of them. Today we crossed the road outside the hotel and caught the appropriate bus. Bonus. We rode for a while and then needed to walk down narrow streets with bicycles riding past for about 15 minutes to get to the Nishiki food markets, a large covered area. They were still setting up and not all the stalls were open. What we did see was lots seafood. Little cooked baby octopus on sticks, giant oysters and many varieties of shellfish. There weren’t many fresh fruit and vegetable stalls, but we did manage to buy a couple of apples. Our intake has been very limited.
We found a Tullys coffee shop and enjoyed a very nice coffee and planned the next part of our day. We were going to Kyoto Station to have a look around and book our tickets for Sunday morning. We jumped on the number 5 City bus and off we went, chatting and enjoying the ride.
Ken spied a geisha in a taxi, in full hair and make up. After a while, we realised that we had gone the wrong way. We were at the zoo and it was looking a bit rural. Not such bus experts after all.
We jumped off and deliberated, while the smells of the zoo wafted around us. Then Ken decided he would stay out in the suburbs and go to the art gallery. I was left to navigate back to the station. I had a very nice ride on the Number 5, with a comfortable window seat all the way.
Kyoto Station is amazing. The architecture is wonderful. A towering ceiling covered in steel and glass framework, letting light in below. There are escalators that go up forever and then a garden space at the top - the Friendly Park. I wandered around, exploring and constantly getting lost. There was a whole section I didn’t find.
I stopped and watched the constant stream of people. There was a low hum, no one was loud and I didn’t understand most of them. There was an occasional chatter of groups of children, higher pitched, excited giggles. The older children were in uniforms, the littlest in colour coded caps for each group. They all stayed in line, with minimal numbers of adults getting them through this maze that I keep getting lost in. The tourists were all on their phones, following google maps.
The sweet section in the lower floor of the Isetan Department store in the station is an overwhelming display of beauty. It is displayed like a cosmetics section. Everything is packaged beautifully and the options are vast.
I somehow managed to buy a box of treats, I was trying to buy an individual item!
I went to the pharmacist and got some antihistamines, my eyes have been watering since the lunch date amongst the weeds yesterday. Then I went to the 711 for a snack of a marscapone mousse and matcha jelly pancake, an iced latte and a baumchuken cake to share with Ken. I sat outside to eat it. No one walks around eating, you must stop and there are not a lot of places to do that.
Ken returned after an enjoyable afternoon at the art galleries. We bought our tickets to Nagoya on Sunday morning and walked back to the hotel, stopping on the way to buy Ken a sandwich and coffee and drinks for the fridge.
A short rest; lunch for Ken, an apple me and we needed to get moving again to our next excursion - the Philosopher’s Path, named after a famous philosopher who would walk it daily while philosophising. It is a lovely stone path along a canal. It is quite a way out of the city - 50 minutes on the Number 5.
The path is quite lovely. We had left it to the afternoon because I read somewhere that it was best at sunset. It was good because there were not a lot of people and we could really enjoy the space. However, we were a bit late to go into the temples. But the shrines were still available and we explored a few of those. There are stone pavers along the canal, which is lined with beautiful greenery, some of which are cherry trees and would be spectacular in early April. It was still very picturesque.
Every thing is so green here. The leaves are glossy, a stark difference to the burnt gardens we have left in Perth.
We made it to the end of the path and followed directions to the bus stop. We thought we would be likely to get a seat on the bus, we were out in the boondocks. When old mate Number 5 turned up it was chockers! We squeezed ourselves in so that we were behind the line and the door could close and traveled most of the 50 minutes in close contact with our fellow passengers. I managed to get a seat a few stops out from Kyoto Station.
We had planned to eat there tonight and we were starving and ready for a drink. We found the section I missed today, casual eating spaces, but climbed to the top on the escalators for the ramen floor, called Ramen Street. The vast stairs I had admired today were now a light show, but Ken wasn’t stopping to admire that yet - time to eat.
We had the ramen experience, ordering and paying for our food on a computer, getting a ticket and then waiting in the queue. It didn't take long and we were seated at a table with our beers and a teapot full of iced tea. The ramen soon arrived, along with gyozas and fried chicken. It was all very good.
Full and happy, if a little tired, we went up to the skywalk, which is a covered platform that connects the east and west structures, 45 metres above ground. It is pretty cool. You can see the station below, the streets beyond and the towering and illuminated Kyoto Tower above. We walked across and then went back up the escalators to check out the light show on the stairs. There are thousands (about 15,000) of little LED lights on the stairs that are choreographed to create pictures. It is very pretty and clever. So many people in the station were there to visit the space, rather than catch a train.
We walked home again, our muscles tired and sore. Time for an onsen. Neither of us had it to ourselves today, but we survived and our bodies thank us. We have another big day planned for tomorrow. Our last day to explore this sensational city.
Rosie
2024-05-11
So many new experiences - this is a holiday like no other. You're saving us a packet with this virtual travel! Still waiting for a photo at the Onsen - completely forbidden I'm sure!😂 Looks like you certainly need to be tech saavy to survive, I guess thats Japan for you! Awaiting next instalment ...