The area where we stayed in Kyoto, the northern part of Higashiyama, is chockfull of temples, museums, little corner restaurants and traditional houses. (There's also a giant eyesore called the Westin Miyaki hotel but that was out of our view so we just ignored it.)
There was always something to do in our neighbourhood which was great since it's not always easy to plan a full day with a baby. But I think we did alright. Here are a few of the highlights from the past few days:
We went biking up to Kamigamo shrine (which isn't actually in our neighbourhood anymore but that's where the bike ride started..)
The baby baskets for the bikes are all kinds of awesome. Not least of all because Small Paw can see what's happening instead of staring at Fa's back.
The temple had a big market going on with lots of craft stalls and food. There was even a horse!
Feeding carrots to the horse god. Or was it the horse of the emperor god? I can't remember. In any case, they usually have one hanging out here at the Kamigamo shrine and for a small donation you can feed it a bit of carrot. Small Paw loved it.
We saw a wedding party at the shrine as well. The couple didn't look too happy but maybe that was just the stress of taking all those pictures.
Wedding pictures at Kamigamo shrine. A whole production that included two hairdresser/makeup girls fanning around the party and fixing everyone up.
On top of the gate that leads to Nanzen-ji. Small Paw gives Fa a lesson in facial anatomy.
Nose, nose, nariz, nariz.
Heian shrine, one of my favourites and right down the street from us.
Sake barrels in front of Heian shrine. I don't think they actually contain sake but if they do, that is one hell of an offering to the gods.Heian is actually a very new temple which is why it looks quite different from the others in the city. (And by new I mean it was built in the 1890s.)Hanging out in the garden of Heian shrine.Follow me, I know a shortcut.We spent a long time looking for fish but sadly didn't see any. Later came by a box where you could buy carp fodder; the bastards are probably trained to hide unless someone throws in some food!The bridge in Heian garden. See that heron on top of the bridge? We totally had to pay extra to make that damn bird sit there and make this picture even better.The giant torii for Heian shrine in the middle of the street.
Now for something completely different: how cool are these gas stations? The pumps are in the ceiling.
This is the kind of weird stuff I was hoping to see in Japan. Yay!
Taking a stroll along one of the fancy traditional streets at night means you get to peek in to the restaurants, great fun.
Fancy restaurants along the canal.Most restaurants can be identified by a red lantern hanging outside, presumably advertising what kind of food they serve.
During the light festival earlier this month, all the temples in our area were open at night for viewings giving them a whole different look and feeling.
The bamboo forrest at Shoren-in looked like it was getting ready for a movie shoot.Firefly imitations in the garden of Shoren-in. So kitschy and yet so magical.
There are lots of cute little cafés and restaurants dotted around. You often have to know where to look though or really keep your eyes open because otherwise you'll miss half of them.
At the Nama organic chocolate tea house, run by an American woman and her Japanese husband chef who used to cook for the Japanese ambassador in New York. Quite good chocolate cake.Small Paw loved it cause she got free apple cake. And they had a cat upon the discovery of which, our daughter almost lost her shit and would not stop pointing at the cat and making her cat noise which sounds like a mouse being strangled under a carpet. We had to reassure her about 150 times that yes, really, we saw the cat as well.
The river has several bridges but for greater convenience there are little pedestrian crossings built ever so often. Fun and useful!
You'll want to go to the other side just to cross one of these.Some decorative stones next to the river crossing. I imagine in the summer you could wade out to those and have yourself a little picnic.
In the past couple of days the cherry trees have started blossoming and with it the number of tourists in the city have suddenly tripled. (Point in case, we wanted to go to the tiny and very casual restaurant on our corner tonight for a good-bye dinner and there was a wait of 30 minutes! Last time we went, a couple of weeks ago, we could walk right in.)
Sakura season!I don't know if this couple really needed the added wow factor of the cherry blossoms. That dress pretty much does all the talking.Yep, Kyoto rules. We'll be back.
Oh, and in case you're wondering how Small Paw's advances in walking are going, here's a little video for you:
