Going back to Kyoto was a little surreal. I`d studied abroad there for 9 months and gone back a year and a half prior while traveling with a friend over winter break. This trip was different than my other Kyoto-experiences, however. For starters, we were staying in a really fancy hotel. (The kind where you kind of feel like a movie star because people are tripping over themselves to help you... looking back now, I could`ve stayed at a hostel and gone scuba-diving for the same amount. But I wasn`t the one footing the bill ^^) Secondly, given the preferences of the group members, being in Kyoto wasn`t so much about dragging ourselves to temple after temple after shrine in the insane summer heat (which is what I probably would`ve done if visiting Kyoto for the first time), but rather taking our time, not trying to sqeeze too much in, enjoying fancy meals, and going to elegant bars afterwards.
Since I`d never had a vacation like that, it was new and fun.
One of the more memorable restaurants we went to was a funky little hole-in-the-wall near Shijo. It was advertised in one of the Kyoto guidebooks as a vegetarian temple-bar; the building was actually a registered temple, with a little Buddha statue tucked in between the bottles of vermooth and tequila, and the middle-aged woman who served us was a Buddhist nun. It had a very cozy feeling and a filling dinner set... brown rice, miso soup, a few hunks of squash, a lotus root salad, pickled daikon, and some deep-fried tofu balls.
Out of all the places we went to, I think this humble temple-bar was the biggest hit with the group.
Oh, and there was a sassy but adorable little cat tucked into a corner on our way out.
After the cheap-but-filling meal, we headed over to probably one of the most expensive and fancy (but still no-personal-introduction-necessary) bars in Kyoto. Here are our drinks; one of them came with a little show from the waitress that involved lighting a liqueur on fire and then passing the flaming liquid between two cups.
Here`s the Shijo sidewalk in summer; the lanterns above the covered walkway are in preparation for the Gion festival, which we just managed to miss by 3 days.
The group decided that they wanted to see 1 temple and 1 shrine (and spend more time shopping and eating out :). Anyone who`s ever been to Kyoto (much less lived there and loved it like I have) knows that there are are tons of shrines and temples, all with their own personalities. It was very difficult to pick a temple, but given the heat I went with convenience; we were just down the road from Sanjusangendo, so we popped over there one morning.
It was right around Tanabata, so we also got to see Sanjunsangendo`s tanabata display.
Our hotel was about a 15-minute walk to Shijo-Kawaramachi, and given how much shopping we did in that area, I got to see a lot of my old friend, the Kamo river. I really like the look of the raised platforms that all the restaurants put up in summer.
...and here`s a scene looking north from Shijo. When I studied abroad, at my last (best, and longest) host family`s place, I`d see this every day on my way to school.
Another day, we went to Nijo Castle. It`d been years since I`d been there, and I forgot how big the walls and gate are!
I picked Nijo over other Kyoto sights because of my memory of its lovely gardens. (Not quite as good as Katsura, perhaps, but easier to get access to). It rained a bit, being rainy season and all, but the rain had really brung out lovely green colors in the trees.
Sloping fortified castle wall and a moat--
...with a few bridges over the moat ^^
One of our last days, we went to Kurama.
I really wanted U.B. and friends to experience a Japanese onsen, and Kurama`s probably the closest one with a rotemburo (outdoor bath) and view. First, though, a yummy tempura lunch ^^
Mmmm tempura.
...the onsen was as relaxing as I`d remembered. No pictures of the view, sorry-- there were other people there, too.
Like I wrote earlier, we spent a lot of time wiling away evening hours in high-class bars with intriguing atmospheres. I mean, they were gorgeous. One of the restaurant-bars in our Tokyo hotel was so Japanese-ly basic, which further highlighted the seemingly-casual-but-actually-painstakingly-manipulated touches, like arranged flowers alcoves. I perferred the bars with a western atmosphere, like this one in our Kyoto hotel--
...it`s hard to get a feeling from my dark pictures, but it was just so cozy, with plush chairs and lit candles. (in retrospect, I wonder if this is one of the effects of living in a Japanese apartment-- comfy chairs? Really?? ...I don`t have to sit on a thin cushion on the floor? Oh, you lovely, lovely designer.)U.B. went back to the states earlier than C and P, so I had one full day with them. It was Shrine Day. My favorite shrines in Kyoto are probably Fushimi-Inari and Kiyomizu-dera (or Kitano Tenman-gu on market day or plum blossom season, both of which we missed), but neither of them are what I would consider `typical` Japanese shrines... they`re among the big and showy, tourist-attracting shines in Kyoto. Like orchids in a flower show. Most Japanese shrines are smaller, humbler... like the wildflowers that spring up outside of a greenhouse. If they were only going to see one to set the standard of what a Japanese shrine looks like, I wanted to show C and P a wildflower-shrine.
I also really wanted to go to Uji to see the Tale of Genji museum that had been under construction while I was studying abroad. The group concurred that it would be more fun to go to a shrine that was new to me, too, so we went to Uji-gami Shrine. While it had what I consider a typical, semi-rural shrine atmosphere (that quiet, untouched feeling... completely opposite of the swarms of tourists usually found jamming the pathways of Kyoto shrines), it turned out that Ujigami Shrine had a someone interesting history, too. It`s even on the list of Japanese National Treasures!
Typical red torii entrance-- note the lack of tourists ^^
I liked the main worship hall. Note the two symbolic mounds of sand in front of the building and the quite unusual roof that arches at the edge.
...a thatched roof, I might add, with grass growing on top!
(Oh, how I loved thatched roofs...)
The shrine was known as one of the `Seven Famous Waters of Uji,` and here is its sacred spring.
...I got close enough to the holy water to see there were small animals living in it.
Holy crustacean!
Here are C and P at their first Japanese shrine ^^
The Tale of Genji museum was pretty cool too, but I wasn`t allowed to take any pictures inside. Just imagine lots of dioramas with people in long, layered kimono-- drinking sake, admiring the cherry blossoms, trudging through snow... oh, and the men sneaking in and out of bedrooms, of course... and you`ll basically get the picture.
That night, C, P, and I went to an amaaaaaaazing dinner-and-maiko performance at a snotty Japanese-style restaurant in Gion. It was so awesome (and I took so many pictures), it`s getting its own post later on.
The next day I got C and P off on their train back to Tokyo, then went to enjoy a few last hours in Kyoto. I met up with L for lunch and some crazy black-ink crepes.
Oh, and preparations for the Gion Festival were in full-force. I hadn`t realized it before, but the large, portable shrines used during the festival (to carry different gods around in) are assembled each year by hand. They also don`t use any metal, like nails... the shrines are lashed together with rope. It was incredible to watch the assembly process for about 30 minutes. (I think it takes them 3-4 days to get the shrines completely assembled).
Really, really intense ropework.
Oh, and did I mention that the portable-shrines are assembled throughout the Gion area, including on Shijo? Yup, this shrine is smack in the middle of the shopping district. Daimaru and other department stores are just down the street.
