Early this morning (kind of), we jumped back onto the Shinkansen, changed over at Kobe and headed straight to Kyoto, arriving late morning. Checked into our newer tiny hotel and headed straight out to the famous Nishiki Markets.
It's unconventional in that it is entirely linear, a dozen or so blocks with actual roads intersecting now and then. Each side of the laneway, lots of small food vendors but most importantly, anything you buy, you either eat where you bought it or you put it away, because walking and eating is verboten.
It's quite the photo dump I know, but I can't help myself when it comes to food markets. Just...a little bit more...
I probably should have called this blog Nishiki Market, so I'll move on to Nijo Castle, which was built in 1603 by the first Shogun of the Edo Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Significantly, this is also where 700 years of samurai rule came to an end when the last Shogun surrendered his authority to rule the country to the Emperor.
Unfortunately (for me, maybe you), the main castle building was a photography free zone. Another linear walk through, the building is an exhibition original and recreated decorated walls, doors, wooden carvings and incredibly squeaky floors. Previously though to be a security feature for sneaky people, but after much research, just a design flaw. Just like the stairs in my parents home.
After the main castle building we got to wander around the grounds and the manicured gardens.
It was gorgeous, if a little rushed. There were a few castle battlements that provided us with a view.
We returned to Kyoto city centre near to our hotel, somewhere in between we did enjoy a delicious frozen crepe and relaxed in the hotel. Unfortunately no Onsen available.
With the afternoon free we decided to enjoy another crepe (yes, they are that delicious) and then pop into a Shiba Café. Kyoto and Tokyo host a plethora of themed cafes. We walked past an Owl Café, Micro Pig Café, Kitten Café, Otter Café and more than one Shiba Café. The premise is simple, provide the main attraction (in this case a bunch of Shiba dogs) for a set time period and then provide a mediocre extra to keep you there and justify the cost. In this case, free drinks from a drinks machine laden with sugar. It was an experience worth doing just once. JPY850 got us a 30min window of snooty Shiba attention. They're kind of like the cats of the dog world.
For dinner, we went to a popular Sushi Train restaurant called Musashi Sushi. We were lucky to get inside without waiting for long and when we eventually left, the queue span around the corner of the building.
After dinner we went for a group walk to the Gionmachi Minamigawa ward. This area is famous for the Geisha that reside and work in the area, and of course photography is forbidden, unfortunately we went so late that there wasn't anyone about anyway, so we walked where it was a bit busier and photos were permitted.
We ended the evening with a few photos over the bridge near the Kamo River.
Today was a good day in Kyoto...tomorrow...well.
