Crowded in KYOTO

We arrived in Kyoto by train and took a really fun cab ride to our hotel. There are over 300 hotels in Kyoto and our driver did not recognize the name of the one in which we were staying. Our driver spoke very little English and of course we speak less than very little Japanese. We communicated through broken Japanese & English, smartphones (the driver needed glasses to see the phone, but had to take them off to drive...this caused some challenges), and good old fashioned hand gestures. He pulled over a few times to run into other hotels and business establishments to inquire whether anyone knew of/knew where our hotel was located. We finally found it and all shared a good laugh along the way.

I have to get this out of the way at the beginning: We saw beautiful and amazing sights in Kyoto, but after all the hype (and for various other reasons), we left feeling a little let down. Maybe this had to do with the fact that we were pretty exhausted and road-weary by that point. Maybe the crappy weather? Maybe it was because it was insanely crowded since we visited in a peak tourist season. Maybe it was that we'd already seen "little Kyoto" and countless other amazing places? Maybe there was just too darn much to see! Whatever it was, we never felt like we got a handle on the city and it was the only stop we left with a sense of unfinished business. It was the only city we left feeling like we didn't do it justice. That was disappointing. We're talking about Kyoto here! Despite our conflicted feelings about our time in Kyoto, we saw some pretty incredible stuff. Here's the rundown...

After dropping our bags in our hotel room, we ate lunch at a chain restaurant that serves fried pork cutlets; a popular dish in Japan. We did not particularly want to eat at a chain, but most restaurants in Japan close between lunch and dinner and we were hungry at an in-between-time. Luckily, our food was good...and filling!

We walked (a very, very far distance) to Gion, one of the most well known geisha districts in Japan. Geisha in Gion call themselves geiko, which means artist. This neighborhood has two hanamachi or geisha communities. The exact number of geisha in Japan today is unknown, but it is estimated that there are only between one and two thousand. Sightings of real geisha are very rare outside of their communities. Usually when tourists have geisha sightings, they are likely seeing other tourists who have paid to dress up as maiko or apprentice geisha.

There were TONS of tourists in Gion. The streets felt more crowded than Shibuya Crossing (remember, that crazy intersection in Tokyo?). We were elbow to elbow in two-way  foot traffic with other tourists. It was completely insane and hard not to feel kind of anxious. Not because of any danger or feeling unsafe, but because of our complete inability to see where we were going or from where we had come. Despite the crowds, Gion was cool; full of old buildings and streets; a feeling of real, old-timey Japan. Many people were strolling in kimono. We were surrounded by temples and amazing fall foliage; the Japanese maple were an explosion of golds, oranges, and reds. We wandered around for quite a while before walking back to our hotel to rest up for dinner. We got back to our room a little before 7 pm. We laid down to "rest our eyes" and did not open our eyes again until 7 am. Our first night on the town in Kyoto had slipped away from us, but I suppose these weary travelers just needed a good sleep!

During our first full day in Kyoto, we had a half day with a personal tour guide. We had a busy agenda for a half day to include: Nijo-jo Castle, Kinkaku-ju (Golden Pavililon), and Daitoku-ji (Buddhist Temple). The sky was a bit overcast and there was some drizzle so we hit the road with umbrellas in tow.

Nijo Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu. It stands as one of the finest examples of Edo period architecture and houses Edo period art commissioned by Iemitsu. One of the most interesting features of the castle are the nightingale floors, which were built to chirp like birds any time they are walked upon in order to protect the occupants of the castle from sneak attacks and assassins (ninjas). There were also closet doors in each of the reception rooms that samurai would stand behind so that they could pop out to protect the shogun from disgruntled visitors. Definitely a must-see in Kyoto!

The Golden Pavilion (a World Cultural Heritage Site)  is precisely what it sounds like: a Buddhist hall that is covered in gold foil lacquer. The garden and buildings centered around the Golden Pavilion are said to represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world. It was gorgeous the way the sun brought the building to life; making it sparkle and shine. As usual, the Japanese gardens were stunning. Speaking of stunning gardens, the gardens Daitoku-ji (another Buddhist Temple) were very interesting to see. There, we really got a good understanding of the meaning behind each feature in the garden right down to the shape of the boulders. We were not permitted to take pictures inside Daitoku-ji as they had apparently been having problems with people taking pictures of the gardens and replicating them elsewhere in the world.

Our guide was very informative, but also a "chop chop" kind of tour guide. She didn't waste any time chatting and I practically had to beg to stop to take pictures! The plus side of this was that we got a lot packed into a very short amount of time! She ended our tour back in Gion, and by this time, it was POURING rain. The same crowds as the day before were out, but this time they (we) were all holding umbrellas. It was even harder to see where we were going and from where we had come. It was another in-between-time to eat, but we were starving. We searched far and wide for a restaurant, but everything was closed. We finally stumbled across a food shack (for lack of a better word) and scarfed down bowls of hot noodles in the rain. it was hard not to feel a little discouraged.

After we got a little food in our bellies, we rallied and visited Kiyomizu Temple after lunch. It was very beautiful and would have been an amazing place to take in the sights of the changing maple leaves had the weather been nicer and the crowds been smaller. It was too rainy to try and get good pictures, so our memories of the temple will have to suffice.

After visiting the temple, we walked all over Gion (again!) looking for a bus stop to take us back to our hotel. We were soaked to be bone by the time we made it back. Eric had also turned green from the waist down from the bleeding dye of one of our travel books.

We decided to siesta until dinner. And, yes, this time we actually woke up! For dinner, we walked down the street to a little Indian restaurant. We sampled dishes from North and South India- it was delicious! We walked off our meals in the area around our hotel and then went to bed.

We got a late start on our last full day in Kyoto, which ended up haunting us later in the afternoon. We took a day trip to Nara, the first capital city of Japan. It was about 30-45 minutes South of Kyoto. Nara is a much smaller city and there was a lot less traffic and crowds. There is a park in Nara, which is the epicenter of tourism there. There are number of temples and museums in this one, concentrated area. There are also hundreds of friendly deer. They wander around and eat food from people's hands, pose for pictures, visit, and accept friendly pats and hugs. I wasn't feeling like deer hugging and neither was Eric, but the deer (and other tourists) were fascinating to watch and the babies were super cute to see!

Nara is also home to the Great Buddha- one of the world's largest Buddha statues and a National Treasure of Japan (Japan's largest statue). The building housing the Buddha is the largest wooden structure in the world despite the fact that it is 33% smaller than its original version, which burned down both in 1180 and 1567. It was awe-inspiring. I lit a candle there for Michael.

After strolling through the park, enjoying the foliage, and seeing the Buddha, we had worked up an appetite. One of our guide books had suggested a falafel joint, but after searching far and wide we were unable to locate it. We assumed that it was no longer around and opted for a hot bowls of Ramen instead.

Over bowls of steaming noodles topped with shrimp tempura, we hatched a plan to hustle back to Kyoto in time to make it to Sanjūsangen-dō, known for the thousand life-size armed Kannon statues standing to the left and the right of the statue of the main deity. When we realized we actually had a shot of making it if we caught the next train, we slurped up our noodles and ran to the train station. Sadly, this is where our late start in the morning bit us in the butt. We were about 10 minutes too late for the last admission of the day. By this time it was also too late (too dark) to be able to enjoy Fushimi Inari (another shrine we had hoped to visit). This one famous for the thousands of Torii gates lining the path to the inner shrine. When we realized we had blown our chance to see both of these really cool places (must-sees for us), we each suffered meltdowns in our own special ways. After a spat, some pouting, and shared apologies, we accepted defeat and decided what to do with the rest of our afternoon. 

Big surprise- we ended up in Gion AGAIN. We shopped for pottery and got one last look at the beautiful maples. We may not have seen enough of Kyoto, but we certainly got our fill of Gion. 

We met a fellow JAG friend, Megan, for drinks that night at her swanky hotel bar. After cocktails, we decided to get dinner at one of the restaurants in the place called "Eat Paradise" at the Kyoto train station. We had never seen a place like this. There were one zillion (that is an exact figure) restaurants, literally floors of restaurants in this one place. The place we picked was traditional, Kyoto-style, Japanese food. It was simple but very delicious. We had sashimi, sushi, soba noodles (hot & cold), rice with vegetables, and tempura. Eric and Megan sampled some sake and for dessert we had these sweets that are a jello-like consistency and covered in a floury powder. They suck all the moisture right out of your mouth, but are really quite tasty. 

A night with Megan was a great way to end our time in Kyoto, and luckily it wasn't the only time we were going to spend with her on this trip. We had plans to meet her again at our next (and last) stop, Hiroshima, on Thanksgiving! 

Short but sweet KANAZAWA

We started our day in Takayama but made our way to Kanazawa by train. It was a beautiful ride through picturesque towns surrounded by mountains and rivers. The landscape was breathtaking. It made us really appreciate the fact that we can travel almost anywhere in Japan by train- it allows you to see so much more! When we got to Kanazawa, we decided we could walk to our hotel from the train station because is wasn't very far away. Unfortunately, we got turned around somehow and ended up taking a very long, very roundabout route (we might have been walking in circles) to our hotel. Regardless, we eventually made it. We were both tired, but Eric was a lot more tired because he wouldn't let me carry much of anything since I was pregnant. He was draped in all of our bags and looked like a donkey carrying a load down the Grand Canyon. Well, he didn't look like a donkey...he just reminded me of one.

View of Kanazawa from our hotel. 

Another view...

Our hotel was great, but we spent veeeery little time there as we really only had a half day to see as much of Kanazawa as was humanly possible. Kanazawa is no tiny town. It developed around a castle complex in the city center, and today, more than half a million people live there. It is famous for its pottery. The castle complex and Kenroku-en garden area turned out the pretty much the only part of Kanazawa we really had time to experience. We started our day there and stayed until the sun went down. The castle and garden date back to 1546. The castle was the residence of various people and was subsequently used as an army base through the end of World War II. It then served as the campus of Kanazawa University until 1995 when the process to turn it into a park began. The garden was even cooler than the castle and we enjoyed walking through it during the day and at dusk. It seemed to take on a whole new life with the changing position of the Sun. We walked around Kenroku-en until our feet couldn't take any more- it was so beautiful! We didn't want to miss anything!

Kanazawa Castle

View of Kanazawa from Kenroku-en garden.

 Kenroku-en garden

That's one old tree!

Tea house in  Kenroku-en garden.

We were almost as hungry as our feet were tired. We picked out a restaurant for dinner after reading reviews about popular pizza places in the city. We came across reviews for a place called The Cottage, which was described as an Irish-Italian restaurant. Again...intriguing. We walked from the park to the restaurant only to find that it was still closed for lunch and would not open for dunner until later. We had a little time to kill so we decided to explore the area around the restaurant.

As a side note, when we first arrived at the castle complex I started seeing spots and stars. This was the second time this happened to me on the trip. The first time was in Tokyo, but I was able to talk to my mom and explain that it had happened after a particularly tiring day. She assured me that I was probably fine, just tired and dehydrated. When it happened again, I got a little nervous that it had to do with my blood pressure. This prego didn't want to take any chances! I threw around the idea of trying to go to a clinic or hospital to have my blood pressure checked, but decided that instead I would try not to worry about it and I would call my doctor's office on Monday to talk it over (we were in Kanazawa on a Saturday). If we came across a drug store,  Eric decided we would buy a blood pressure monitor so I could check my pressure for peace of mind. I continued to see spots and stars throughout the day and became increasingly more nervous (nervous Nancy over here...).

Low and behold, during our walk around the restaurant's block, we came across a little drug store and we were able to buy a blood pressure monitor! What an exciting vacation purchase! I decided I would take my BP when I got back to our room that night. The drug store endeavor (along with a little help from a shopping mall across the street) allowed us to kill enough time before dinner so we made our way back to The Cottage. Our meal there was THE most memorable dining experience of our trip.

Momo & Tony

The restaurant was run by a real Irishman, who went by Tony, and his wife, Momo (a Japanese woman). They met in Ireland working at an Irish-Italian restaurant there. They had returned to Kanazawa to take care of Momo's aging mother. They both missed Ireland terribly, but enjoy running The Cottage. Like our friend in Takayama at the Mexican restaurant, they run the entire operation alone. Their advertisement strategy for The Cottage is solely word of mouth. Their menu was super simple...only a couple of options, but they made the pasta (and everything else really) in-house. Really! We saw them do it. While Tony was making our pasta sauce, he went outside to the front of the restaurant to snip herbs from the flower boxes. Momo fussed over me after finding out I was expecting. She gave me a little bigger portion (for the baby) than Eric for just about every course and made me a special lemon drink then a special cup of tea. She was one of the sweetest people we've ever met. For a long time, we were the only patrons in the restaurant and were able to visit a lot with Momo and Tony. A little while later, four other customers came in. And would you believe it? Momo remembered one of them by name FROM SEVEN YEARS AGO! She really was amazing.

In addition to having amazing personalities, they were also very good chefs. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and, again, enjoyed the element of friendliness with other patrons that comes with dining in tiny establishments. We found out from the four other diners that Kenroku-en garden was going to be lit by lanterns for the last time in a once-a-year only lantern lighting period.They strongly encouraged that we go back, even Tony and Momo chimed in about how special the experience is. Eric and I were EXHAUSTED and really contemplating going directly back to the hotel and to bed. But somehow, over my special cup of tea and Eric's tumbler of Irish whiskey...we decided to head back to  Kenroku-en. We gave Momo a hug goodbye and were on our way.

Seeing it at night and lantern-lit was truly remarkable. Once we got there, we found the energy to walk around for a couple of more hours. It was stunning. If only the pictures did it justice...

We quite literally dragged our feet back to the hotel. By the time we got back, my feet were so tired I was nearly in tears. Eric too, though he was too tough to admit it. When we got to our room, I opened up my new toy: the fancy blood pressure monitor. I had a meltdown when I (thought I) discovered that it did not come with any batteries. Eric, being the champ he is, without fuss, put his shoes back on and headed down the street to the Lawson's (convenience store). He came back with batteries (and beer) and handed them to me. I put them in the machine and went to read the directions for how to use it. As I unwrapped the directions, two batteries rolled out into my hand. I held open my palm and guiltily looked over at Eric. He just smiled and said, "that's why I love you." And that's why I love him.

I took my blood pressure and all was well. We went to sleep that night happy and dreaming of our next stop: Kyoto.

"Little Kyoto" TAKAYAMA or bust!

Picking up where I left off, we had just finished freezing our booties off in Magome, Kiso Valley and were on our way to Takayama. The trip was several hours long and involved taking a combination of buses and trains. We used our time on the train to research where we wanted to eat dinner. We didn't know it at the time, but Takayama, despite being awesome for a number of things, was the stop where we had the most memorable dining experiences (with the exception of the Irish/Italian restaurant we visited in Kanazawa, which was our next stop on our journey). We were craving something substantial after our couple days of hiking and several kaiseki style meals. We read about an American style burger joint called Center 4 Hamburgers (you can also like them on Facebook!). Center 4 Hamburgers is the only burger restaurant in the city and had a substantial number of excellent reviews. Takayama is a bit off the beaten path and there is probably a pretty slim chance that most people reading this will find their way there, but IF YOU DO...visit Center 4 Hamburgers for sure.

From our research, we knew the restaurant closed at 9:30 pm and our train was not scheduled to arrive in Takayama until 8:30 pm. We also still had to check into our hotel and make sure the bags we sent ahead from Tokyo had arrived. Luckily the hotel was right across the street from the station. We checked in, retrieved our bags (Yes! They made it!), and dropped them in our room; then, we took off running! Eric was great and had figured out the route ahead of time so we easily found it. When we arrived, we were the only two customers there. The place is run by a dude and some of his friends.  It had an American Eagle, ski-lodge, cabin-in-the-woods, rustic feel to it. We were starving so we went crazy. Eric ordered the double cheeseburger, fries, and a beer and I the cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake. Honestly, I am drooling just thinking about it. The burgers were diner style and absolutely perfect. Perfectly cooked, perfect bread, perfect fresh and crisp veggies, and the perfect amount of sauce. It was so good and so perfect (have I gotten my point across yet?) that Eric and I spent the rest of the trip trying to come up with excuses to visit the place for a second time. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we spent the rest of our time in Takayama too full to squeeze in another burger. Hands down, though, best. burger. ever.

How bad do you want this right now?

Eric and I went on and on to the guy about how much we loved the food. He was not surprised to hear it. We waddled out of there completely satisfied, stuffed, and exhausted and stumbled our way to our beds to crash for the night. 

Breakfast the next morning was a nice treat because we could choose between Japanese or Western style breakfast. We both chose Western style as we were still (are still) not accustomed to eating Japanese style breakfasts. The Western breakfast came with eggs, sausage (kind of like Vienna sausages), salad, fruit, yogurt, potatoes, a chunk of bread, juice, and coffee. It wasn't half bad!

I assume they call Takayama "Little Kyoto" because old town Kyoto looks a lot like this.  

 After breakfast, we walked around town and checked out the morning markets and old village areas. There were many stores and vendors selling local crafts and crops. We sampled some food and purchased  some sarubobo "lucky monkey baby" souvenirs. The sarubobo is a faceless doll associated with Takayama and three wishes: protection from bad things, a happy home, and easy childbirth. They are a little creepy looking since they don't have faces. According to Wikipedia, the reason that the dolls have no faces is unclear, but two theories are that they were typically made from scrap fabric and were meant to be simple dolls and that they are faceless so that the owner can imagine a face...a face to match their own current emotional state. I don't know, but the wishes sounded good to us so we went for it! We got two little Christmas ornament dolls and a colorful set of dolls for the baby's room. 

Takayama is famous for sake, lacquerware, and wood carving. There are sake breweries all around. Eric bought a sampler pack so we could try some of it because we were overwhelmed by the selection and have no idea how to choose sake. We still have a lot to learn in this area, but there could be worse lessons to learn, right? 

When the morning markets closed up shop, we hiked up into the hills of Takayama to see Hida No Sato, which is kind of like a preserved town. It was opened in 1971 for the purpose of preserving the traditional housing and lifestyle of the Hida region between 1750 and 1850. More than 30 buildings were moved from different parts of the Hida region and assembled around a lake to make it look like a real, functioning village. Many of the houses are Gassho style thatched roof houses. There are also various tools and other items on display throughout the village. My favorite part about the place was that they provided biographical information about the folks who had occupied the houses and shops. 

Hida No Sato an interesting experience and beautiful to see. We were lucky to be there in the fall because the colors of the changing leaves were truly gorgeous. It was pretty touristy too...they had a place where you could dress up in the traditional clothing of the period and pose for professional pictures in front of the lake with the village as the back drop. We passed (we were too cool for that), but now I'm not sure why...it would have been fun! 

In one area of the village there are workshops where artisans who are experts of traditional arts and crafts can be observed while they work. You can also purchase their handicrafts. Eric bought a wood carved owl from a man who was truly a genius with a chisel. He was awesome, and the owl is pretty cute, too.

By the time we finished exploring Hida, it was about 2:00 pm and we were close to starving. We walked the long way back to our hotel and got ready for a very extravagant lunch. 

We ate at a place called Cafe Le Midi, which was an upscale steakhouse where Hida Beef is served. Hida Beef is comparable to Kobe Beef; very rich and very tasty. I am not kidding when I say that these steaks could be cut with the dull side of a butter knife and did not need to be chewed. We truly indulged...even got dessert! Along with the beef we had some vegetables and a really lovely soup that tasted a lot like potato leek, but a little more...Japanese. I loved the soup and was trying to be polite by not sopping up every last drop with the delicious crusty bread on the table. Well, the waitress came over and said, "excuse me miss, it is really good if you use the bread to get the soup." This was my kind of place! Eric and I took so much time to savor our meals (a first for us...we are professional scarfers) that we stayed through the end of the lunch hour and got to see the staff sit down for a family-style meal before gearing up for the dinner shift. They were all really cool and we seemed to mutually enjoy observing each other consume our meals.

After lunch we made an attempt to keep our food comas at bay by strolling around, but this was done in vain. Instead we strolled back to our hotel and crashed...until the sun went down. 

We were not particularly hungry when dinner time rolled around. Our Hida Beef felt like it was still sitting somewhere near the tops of our stomachs. We were pretty close to talking ourselves into staying in for the night, because in addition to not being very hungry it was cold and rainy outside. However, we had heard about a Mexican restaurant called Chapala's that was run by one man alone. He was owner, chef, waiter, busser, etc...he did it all! Plus...Mexican food in Takayama...we had to see this for ourselves! We decided to walk over for some late night munchies. We are so glad we did! 

We sat right at the bar where we could watch him cook and visit with him. Because, yes, in addition to running the entire operation, the owner also spoke excellent English! He was really funny and entertaining. The food was good- apparently he had spent a little time in Mexico before coming home and opening a restaurant of his own, but the true joy of the experience was meeting him. He was an absolutely charming, vibrant, and lovely person. Many patrons came in while we were there. In fact, he eventually had to turn people away after a large (and drunk) crowd of Japanese people came in to celebrate something. It was the kind of small restaurant where by the end your meal you have chatted with everyone else in the place. It was a really fun way to end our time in Takayama.

We got to bed late, slept well, and woke up the next morning ready to hop back on the train and continue on to Kanazawa. 

PS- Yes, I am writing a PS to my blog post...

You may be thinking it's crazy that we didn't eat much Japanese food. I should explain that we didn't feel pressured on this trip to eat exclusively Japanese food because we will be living in the country for another 2+ years. We did, however, make every attempt to try local favorites and delicacies whenever we heard about them/it was possible.

That is all.