Armed with our bus pass we undertook a mission to discover the bus network in Kyoto. First stop was the Nijo castle,once the emperor's,where the shogun leaders gave up their powers in 1868 and the us forced the opening up of trade with japan. A magnificent wooden building with wonderfully decorated sliding panels and carvings.Of particular note was the "nightingale floor " to warn of enemies entering the building. There was a lovely garden too with special moss designs in the lawns. Secondly we visited the Kinkau-ji temple famous for its Zen garden and incumbent 87 year old monk and poet who signed a piece of his work we bought. Then it was time to visit the Daisen-in temple which is covered in gold leaf and also has a fine garden. We decided on a Japanese lunch which although seemed just to be a family style restaurant was superb. Some of us wished to visit the Manga museum which was housed in an old primary school and was a fascinating insight into the origins and development of this cartoon art form. We had to hurry to catch the bus to take us back into the geisha district where we went to see a traditional Japanese art and dance show. Serena from our group volunteered to partake in the tea ceremony. A bus back to the station area for supper and we couldn't resist nipping into the British pub for a pint and a portion of fish and chips. sacrilege but it was good value and we only wanted a snack. To finish the evening off we took the sky walk across the top of the state of the art railway station which is more of a cathedral.