Friday, August 4, 2017 – Kyoto, Japan
A new city and a new run for me. I got up early and found a running trail along the Kamo River. A nice mix of running the city streets to get to the trail, then a bit of nature and even a fisherman as I ran beside the river.
I came back with a 7-11 breakfast to enjoy at the apartment. In Asian cultures breakfast there aren’t specific breakfast foods, like eggs or pancakes in the U.S. The foods eaten at breakfast, lunch, and dinner are very similar. I had beef curry with noodles. I didn’t record what Aaron and Chrissy had, but I suspect it was something involving fish and rice for Aaron and a banana and yogurt for Chrissy.
Our first stop of the day was Niko Castle – a historic castle dating to the 1600’s and used during the Imperial and Shogun rule when Kyoto was the capital of Japan. The castle and grounds were both beautiful.
Next on our agenda was Kinkaku-ji, a Buddhist temple that is completely overlaid with gold leaf. A breathtaking sight.
Then it was on to the Gion district. We toured the large park there with multiple Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and wandered around the many small shops and restaurants that surround the park. We had green tea ice cream cones, then headed back to the apartment to clean up and rest.
One thing on my Japan list was Wagyu steak. We found a place on line and when we got there we were the only customers, which we didn’t take to be a good sign. But the meal was good. The steak was served sizzling on a cast iron plate and was very good. It wasn’t the best steak I ever had, but it was Wagyu beef in Japan. And after the sushi at the fish market in Tokyo and the meals at the Ryokan in Hakone, my bar was set pretty high.
The restaurant was on a quiet, narrow street but only a couple of blocks away from a major shopping district. After dinner we strolled the shopping district and ended up in BookOff, a chain of used bookstores that Aaron was already familiar with. In addition to used books they sell CD’s, DVD’s, video games, and other items. We all found something there – a J-Pop CD for Aaron, a Faces CD for Chrissy, and a Billy Joel CD for me.
As we ended the day, we were keeping an eye on Typhoon Nora. She was out in the Pacific headed toward Japan and just like storms in the Atlantic basin she was keeping everyone guessing of exactly where she would go. Would she impact our plans? Time would tell, but as Floridians we were very used to this drill.
Where Are We Going Now? 