May 6th. Turning Gold into Diamonds

 The crowds have left and now all you have is crowds of foreigners. Well I will take that. Just small crowds. 

We started today at the saihoji moss garden which is a UNESCO site with limited access. We started copying Buddhist Sutras with meditation. Then went out into the moss garden. What an experience. It was so nice,I stopped taking photos. But here are a couple. 

 

A butterfly below. 

Another butterfly 

We are next headed to one of the private imperial palaces. Jessica manages to get us a taxi by phone that takes us down to the train station and then we go into Kyoto. 

We

Are early, so I find this 1950’s era place to eat. Good tempura. 

Cool huh. 

Then on to the palace where we are meeting Michael, Jenna, and Meghan coming from Fushimi iniri. The temple with all the orange tori’s. They make it just in time. Some photos from there. 

All are hungry, so we are meeting in Gion. We meet and decide on Ramen. It was delicious and reasonable. 

We walk to Gion looking for the street Bob Kowalczyk had taken me to some years back. Did not find it,

But many others just as nice. 

And that is a long day for this old man so good night. Tomorrow we travel to Miyajima. 

May 5th. Golden Week.

 So I wake up to an empty house.  Not too bad. I can shower and shave at my own pace. Finally everyone wanders back in from breakfast and whatever. Today we will stay local and go see the Arashiyama monkeys and bamboo grove and then take a ride on the Romantic train 

Before we even get very far, Mary Ann and I decide not to see the monkeys because of the steep climb involved. Just the bamboo for us. Then the crowds hit. Last day of Golden week and everybody came to see monkeys and bamboo. 

So game plan C. We eat and then meet the rest at Romantic train later. 

Wagyu beef. And by the time we were done, the crowds were gone. 

Try and get a taxi at this time of day Golden Week. Went to train info and he points to where the taxis should be. Wait 10 minutes and go back to train info. My non Japanese and his limited English doesn’t help. He gives me a phone number which I call and manage I think to order a taxi. Gary-San. 15 minutes later I go back to see if there is a possibility that the two train terminals are connected. He greats me with a “No Taxi?”. Not sure how to answer that. He also tells me to walk. 

We start to walk, and Gary-San taxi shows up. So thankful to see a taxi.  He takes us to the correct station, we meet the rest of the crew and wait for the Romantic train to leave. 

Tunnel shot. There were a few

Not everyone feels romantic. 

Scene 1. 

It was scenic. 

We reach the end point and all of a sudden they yell for everyone to get back on the train. We were going to take the bus back but it seemed like something had happened to prevent that. We get back to original station, and now they want money for return trip. Cash. We argue back and forth. I teach one person about the term “bait and switch”. All to no avail. But we do manage to use a credit card.   Not much romance to this railroad. Jessica ends by telling them I have a National Blog in the USA and this will be  poorly reported in it. And so I did. The walk back was great. Jessica bought me a real cane instead of the umbrella I had been using. And most people had gone home so the streets were empty. 

Beautiful night. And just when we thought it couldn’t get any more beautiful, Jenna models her newest present. 

Goodnight to all. 

May 4th. Old Friends; Lost and Found

 Today was my alone day. Well sort of. I was meeting my best friend who lives in Japan. He came to Korea with us in the Peace Corps and settled in Kyoto Japan never leaving ( well maybe for short stints). 

Simple instructions. Take the 93 bus to Heien Shrine and he will be between the gates. Find the 93 bus stop. Simple. Follow the small stream which has to lead to the river and the bus.  1/2 hour later, 90 degrees, no shade, I walk along the railroad tracks, take the wrong crossover but finally get to the next station down the line to see the train pull away. 

Buy tickets and finally get to sit. No wait, train is crowded and umbrella doesn’t substitute for  a cane. Two stops later, “This is the last stop for this train”. I am still far from Bob. Taxi time. 

Did I mention that they are having a feast type event at Heien Shrine. So I have to meet him in this carnival. Back and forth, phone calls back and forth, and I finally “find him”. Strange saying since I has the one totally lost in a place I knew fairly well. 

Too hot to take the hike we had planned, so we wait and talk in the shade of the entrance as the Chinese tourists pour in and out. And we decide to go back to Bob’s apartment and have some beer. Beer and chips it is. And talk as only friends of over 50 years can have. Would not make sense to anyone who is listening. 

Temple outside Bob’s balcony.

Then off to our favorite watering hole in all of Kyoto, Okariba’s. 

Temple on the way to Okariba’s

Inside Okariba’s with the owner cooking. Yes Sake Bar

The menu. 

Our meal this time. 

Roasted wild boar and pig. 

Had to have a side of the grasshoppers too

Luckily for me, the 93 bus stops just across the street. Quick ride home. But no I get off at the wrong station way too early. Wait 1/2 hour for the next 93 and guess what. I get off too late. Call to Jessica to come get me since she knows the area better than me. 

First rule of being lost. “ Stay where you are” and where I am is stunning. 

My phone is down to 16% and Jessica’s too. She can not find me at the bridge I am lost at. I brake Rule#1 and walk towards some lite place to discover that somehow I am on the wrong side of the river. Stupid buses.  Jessica finds me and we walk home. 

Once home with everybody asleep, I eat 2 of the 3 ice cream cones I just bought.  

Good night

May 3rd. Traveling in circles.

 So today we checked out of the 3 room circus we were in in Tokyo.  Advertised as 3 bedrooms but really 3 rooms. Plus our room was next to the porch next door where those occupants stayed until after 3:30am. So we were happy to see that in our dust. 

Head down to Tokyo Station via the Metro. Grandkids used the extra time to see some more of Tokyo. We had lunch which was wonderful. 

We finally found the outside of Tokyo Station (Japanese train stations can be a maze to the uninitiated). What a beautiful Spring day. 

We sat outside here for awhile since we had a couple of hours to kill. I approached a taxi and asked him to drive us around the Japanese Imperial Palace and grounds and bring us back to the station. He was more than happy to. 

But enough about small circles. We are doing the big circle but to Kyoto. And seeing a large circle along the way. 

We hunt for the lockers where we left most of our luggage also involving some circles and ups and downs. 

Find it, hop in taxis and head to our home for 4 days. It did not disappoint. A quick sample. 

Plus a to die for meal Jessica made for us since she got here first. 

To a nice shower and good night. 

May 2nd. Told you so.

 Well I am not as good as I once was but I am good once as I ever was. Last night proved that. Today rest rest rest. Did go out for

Burger with a spike in it. She nailed it. 

And it comes with a bag to catch the juice. 

Out for sushi this night.  Sushi on a conveyor belt. No photos. They also shopped for pastries with no success. I fled home to rest some more. 

May 1st. Never trust grandchildren

 We woke up and placed most of our things in lockers at Kyoto train station and had a nice ride on the bullet train (Sincansen) on a crumby rainy day. 

What a nice innocent looking couple in the front seat. 

This is our place in Tokyo . Hard to find. 

Not only that. Advertised as three bedrooms but in total it is three rooms.  But only two nights then we head back to Kyoto. 

Oh that thing I said about never trusting grandchildren. See for yourself. 

Well that pretty much sums up Wednesday. Or what I remember of it.  

So Tomorrow more Temples. Or maybe just rest.