Today was much, much better. I realized I have been soooo excited about this trip for so long that I decided I'm going to be content with however this trip ends up looking with, even if it's not the go, go, go I was hoping for. Even so, I thought we were able to do a lot of cool things today.
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| Emi at Breakfast |
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| Emi and Dad |
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| Headed to the shrine! Love doing peace signs. |
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| Marty at Kyoto Station |
In the morning, we headed to Fushimi Inari Taisha. It looks just like the pictures! This is a site that you see advertised a lot, and it's beautiful. I love the contrast with the bright orangey gates against the lush green backdrop. Before going to the site, I read on a tourist website that the shrine is dedicated to the Shinto god of rice, Inari. I also learned that Inari's messengers are foxes, so there were lots of foxes throughout the site.
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| The entrance to Fushimi Inari Taisha..you literally step off the eki and it's right there! |
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| Little foxes |
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| Fox! |
*As a side note: When I found out we'd be going to Kyoto, I reached out to my Japanese Culture professor, and asked him what sites we should see/if we should get a tour guide/etc. He gave me a list of "must sees" and told me a google search could go a long way, and to not worry about getting a tour guide. Thus far, I've liked his advice!*
Stopped so sushiro for lunch. A classic. Of course I had to get the avocado, onion, and shrimp nigiri. My favorite as a missionary! However, now I think I like the broiled salmon better now...
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| Marty told me I've been doing a super wide smile, and to take it down a notch right before he took this picture. I was dying laughing and so here you have a very authentic smile;) |
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| Emi ate avocado and fries for lunch.haha. |
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| Marty in his element. |
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| I loved seeing everyone's stacked sushi plates as a missionary. An obligatory picture. |
Then we headed to Nishi Honganji, a Jodo Shinshu temple. It was ginormous in person! Marty and I met a lot of people from the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism when we were missionaries. They weren't really practicing, but still considered themselves part of that sect. We just walked around the site. Surprisingly not many tourists there!
We stopped at a conbini for salty lichee and pino.
Then went to Highashi Honganji. I thought the entrance was prettier on this one, but the temple didn't look as big after the gate.
Took the subway home.
Imperial Palace in the afternoon. Surrounding the imperial palace is a huge, beautiful area. It has a Central Park feel in my opinion. Way less crowded than central park, but lots of locals hanging out, walking, and enjoying the space. I really loved the palace--especially the gardens.
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| Marty is cracking me up with the stroller. Totally reminds me of the baachans with their little carts in the inaka. |
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| Can I take your picture? Marty's been teasing me that I ask everyone if they'd like me to take their picture hahaha. |
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| These gardens were beautiful. |
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| I loved the restoration artwork in this part of the palace. It was so pretty with all the color! |
A stop to Daiso, and then grabbed Hotto Motto on the way home. We had hotto motto's chicken nanban for Zone taikais on the mission. I loved it, but Marty said the Elder's did not like it because there was never enough food to fill them up. Well, it wasn't quite as good as I remembered haha. It's like a $5 bento to be fair. But I remember thinking that stuff was heavenly on the mission! I guess food just tastes better when you're out biking and talking to people all day long. Still so fun to eat for memory's sake! I love that Marty and I can both appreciate all the foods here and have so memories attached to different places.
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