Kyoto

At 6:50am I was awake and felt, and David was wakened by, an earthquake (mag 4.8 centred near Fukui on the west coast).
Today we were met at 8;30 am by Satako-san, volunteer guide from the Kyoto Jellybeans Goodwill Club. and off we went.
First stop was the Nijo-jo castle, originally built in 1603.

I had been there last time, but didn't remember until David reminded me about the 'nightingale floor' I had described. The floor was made to squeak when walked on, to warn of anyone's approach. You can't take photos inside. I did recognise the wall of the inner castle.

We walked around the gardens, then got on another bus.
This took us to the Golden Temple, Kinkaku-ji, which had its latest rebuild only in 1950.

More peaceful gardens and crowds of high-school students.

At the bus-stop outside we met 'the bumblebee and the geisha'. Sounds like a good title for something.

The next bus took us to the Nishijin Textile Centre, where we had lunch in their cafe, then watched a 15min parade of kimonos, and went for a walk through the extensive shop.


I had previously been to Kiyomizu-Dera, a world heritage temple up on a hill overlooking the city.



It is built on huge wooden pillars, and has special spring water to drink. The road leading up to the gate is a real tourist trap.

On the way back to the city we made a brief stop at the Yasaka-Jinka shrine, but by now my feet had worn out, so we went back to the hostel.

It was almost 16:30, and we had been on the move for eight hours.
Some coffee and a rest, and we are ready to find some dinner.

We walked for a long way, looking for a cheap restaurant that had a menu in English, and ended up coming back to one we had seen last night. After icecreams, I had an early shower, but had to wait for the hair dryer, because some guy was using it to dry his undies.