Today we left Osaka. We got on a train and went to Kyoto. It wasn’t the Shinkansen (bullet train), but it was still really fast, only 25 minutes. When we got there, we went to our hotel and waited, then we walked over to our cousins Airbnb (Arun & Mila, Mila is 6 Arun is 6, they are twins). When we got there we went to dinner together at a Japanese family restaurant. Then we went back to their Airbnb and played. It was SO GREAT to see my cousins!!
The next day we went to the Fushimi-Inari Shrine which has the famous Torii gates!!!!!!! (Did you know that there are over 30,000 gates??!!!!!!) The shrine is at the base of the mountain and has a lot of smaller shrines along the trails in the mountain. We hiked up the mountain and stopped at some shrines. I had a fun time exploring freely with my cousins. Everybody comes to this area this time of year because of the changes in the colors of the leaves on all of the different kinds of trees that grow here. The colors are really beautiful in the mountains and streets in Kyoto, like the bright yellow leaves of the ginkgo trees and the bright red of the Japanese maples. There are a lot of orange and green leaves too. It is really pretty. We also saw some little waterfalls and so much beautiful nature.
After visiting the shrine we walked down the mountain and stopped for lunch at a ramen place. Then we walked to the train station and went to Nishiki Market. It is a huge market with all kinds of different stores, stands and goods. The most popular thing I saw there were mochi balls on a stick with hot white and orange and black cream over them. Nishiki is also a great place for shopping for handmade goods and souvenirs. We have been there many times now.
After Nishiki Market we walked along the Kamo river. It is the main river in Kyoto. There are a lot of little rivers in Kyoto because it is surrounded by mountains on three sides and all the water flows down into the city. No wonder the water here is so fresh!! And we can drink it right out of the tap which is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice since we couldn’t do that since Lucca. We walked to our cousins house and played again.
Today we woke up at our cousins house and mom and dad came over and we all went to the “Golden Temple”. We took a bus to get there. It is really called Kinkaku-ji Temple but it is known as the Golden Temple because it is painted gold. Then we went to Anna and my favorite restaurant…KURA!!! It is the same one as in Osaka and as our favorite in Torrance. It’s a conveyor belt sushi place with slots for the plates. When you put in 20 plates, a ball comes out of a machine at your table and it has a prize in it. We got a prize! It was a Star Wars keychain!
Then we went to Arashiyama. It is a part of Kyoto that has a lot of nature. There is a big bridge over a river that we needed to cross before we got to the mountain. Then we hiked up to a cool monkey area. They were SNOW MONKEYS!!!!! And there were BABIES!! The snow monkeys were really aggressive except for the babies. The rules were you couldn’t pet them and you couldn’t crouch down and take a picture of them or they may attack you. You have to keep your distance and give them space to move around you. It was fun.
Arashiyama also had a bamboo forest that we visited. There are no Giant Pandas there because they are not native to Japan. Those are only in the wild in China. But the giant bamboo forest was really awesome because there were so many and all around you was green and it was so quiet.
The next day we were a little sad because our cousins were leaving to go back to Tokyo and then back to Chicago. We met them at the park near our new house and said goodbye. I was sad to see them go, but I knew I would see them again in two and a half weeks in Chicago after we get back from our trip.
