(no subject)
i'm in kyoto and i feel fine!!!! and tomorrow i see lorna! (oh wow, it's been way too long!)
the first day i was kinda tired after the trip, so i just wandered around kyoto-eki. which is a trip in and of itself, because that is one HUGE eki (eki is the japanese word for station, by the way.) it's an enormous impressive modern building with a ton of shopping malls and whatnot in it.
the station with its horribly gaudy christmas tree:
the eki again:
plastic samples of traditional kyoto kaiseki ryouri you can buy at isetan (a ridiculously expensive department store):
i started my day today in yasaka-jinja. it seems to be a big tourist attraction, but i really wasn't particularly taken by it... just your average shrine. the coolest thing is that it was attached to maruyama park, which was absolutely gorgeous! i think i came at the perfect time - it's just at the end of the time when the maple trees have their color, so you can still see some of the color but the crowds are basically nonexistent. also, almost all the tourists i did see were nihonjin, i was definitely the only foreigner in most of the places i went.
the park:
i wandered around some and found myself in a temple called higashiotani, which was very calm and pretty...
then i wandered down shijo-dori, where there are a lot of stores that sell traditional kyoto crafts and whatnot. very tourist-y. most of the things were too expensive to afford but lovely enough just to look at!
i walked some more along shinbashi-dori, which is a very traditional-style street following a little river. there was hardly anyone else here, and a beautiful atmosphere...
i found myself in a rather large temple called chion-in, which involved a TON of steps (which i did in fact climb!):
the climb was worth it, for the view at top:
also, in the main temple, some monks were there chanting.... it was a really cool experience, to sit in the temple just listening to the chanting... i could definitely see why people would be attracted to buddhism!
after that i made my way down nene-no-michi, which was also very traditional in style, and absolutely beautiful... i wish i had taken some pictures. and then i found kodaiji temple, which was simply one of the most amazing places i have ever been.
omg bamboo!
now it was getting kinda dark, and i wandered down hanami-koji street, which is a main geisha place. really, i didn't like the atmosphere here. it had a feeling of a zoo, a zoo with all the animals hidden from sight... you knew everyone was thinking, "ooh, somewhere behind those closed doors might be geisha! wow!" and it was a little unpleasant. but a picture nonetheless:
at the end of hanami-koji street is a temple called kennnenji, which was particularly beautiful in the evening (look, you can see the moon in the picture!):
i returned to the station to a beautiful view of kyoto tower at night:
wow that was a lot of pictures. any of you who actually looked at/read all of that, you deserve a medal.
the first day i was kinda tired after the trip, so i just wandered around kyoto-eki. which is a trip in and of itself, because that is one HUGE eki (eki is the japanese word for station, by the way.) it's an enormous impressive modern building with a ton of shopping malls and whatnot in it.
the station with its horribly gaudy christmas tree:
the eki again:
plastic samples of traditional kyoto kaiseki ryouri you can buy at isetan (a ridiculously expensive department store):
i started my day today in yasaka-jinja. it seems to be a big tourist attraction, but i really wasn't particularly taken by it... just your average shrine. the coolest thing is that it was attached to maruyama park, which was absolutely gorgeous! i think i came at the perfect time - it's just at the end of the time when the maple trees have their color, so you can still see some of the color but the crowds are basically nonexistent. also, almost all the tourists i did see were nihonjin, i was definitely the only foreigner in most of the places i went.
the park:
i wandered around some and found myself in a temple called higashiotani, which was very calm and pretty...
then i wandered down shijo-dori, where there are a lot of stores that sell traditional kyoto crafts and whatnot. very tourist-y. most of the things were too expensive to afford but lovely enough just to look at!
i walked some more along shinbashi-dori, which is a very traditional-style street following a little river. there was hardly anyone else here, and a beautiful atmosphere...
i found myself in a rather large temple called chion-in, which involved a TON of steps (which i did in fact climb!):
the climb was worth it, for the view at top:
also, in the main temple, some monks were there chanting.... it was a really cool experience, to sit in the temple just listening to the chanting... i could definitely see why people would be attracted to buddhism!
after that i made my way down nene-no-michi, which was also very traditional in style, and absolutely beautiful... i wish i had taken some pictures. and then i found kodaiji temple, which was simply one of the most amazing places i have ever been.
omg bamboo!
now it was getting kinda dark, and i wandered down hanami-koji street, which is a main geisha place. really, i didn't like the atmosphere here. it had a feeling of a zoo, a zoo with all the animals hidden from sight... you knew everyone was thinking, "ooh, somewhere behind those closed doors might be geisha! wow!" and it was a little unpleasant. but a picture nonetheless:
at the end of hanami-koji street is a temple called kennnenji, which was particularly beautiful in the evening (look, you can see the moon in the picture!):
i returned to the station to a beautiful view of kyoto tower at night:
wow that was a lot of pictures. any of you who actually looked at/read all of that, you deserve a medal.