Mysterious Snack

What do you suppose this is, and why? A Twinkie with a banana inside? There were ads for them all over the train stations.

Horyu-ji

David found two temples, Horyu-ji near Nara and Kozan-ji in Kyoto, that were off the beaten path. I am so glad he did.

We had planned on visiting Nara, a city about an hour by train from Kyoto, though we had been there on our first trip when it was excruciatingly hot and humid. At the very least we wanted to find the okonomiyaki place for lunch, and perhaps visit a few sites we had missed on that hot day. First, though, David suggested we change trains in Nara and visit an enormous temple complex where the oldest wooden buildings in the world are located.

Here we had another of those strange Google map snafus. It told us to change to a different train line and go a few stops to this little town. Well, the walking directions to the other train station were ridiculously confusing and kept changing (the Google map starts spinning and rerouting you over and over until you have no idea where you are) so we stopped at the tourist information office across from the JR (primary) station…where the very nice woman explained that it made more sense to return to the JR station, get on another JR train and take it to the temple town. Fortunately for David’s mental health we were on a JR pass, so exiting and returning to the same station cost us nothing. And why Google suggested this strange transfer–and then refused to tell us how to do it–was a mystery.

So we did as the nice woman suggested and in a few short stops were getting off the train and looking for the city bus stop. Which was, of course, right where it should be and a few minutes later we were walking up to the temple complex.

It was enormous. You buy a three-part ticket and as you move through the complex each ticket part is collected. Incredibly peaceful and seemed to go on forever, including a relatively new museum built by the government (of course–we couldn’t build such train stations and museums if we had a lifetime, alas) to house some extremely important, old, and rare statues and artworks. After several hours we returned to the bus stop, walking down a shady pedestrian boulevard, and were back in Nara in a flash. And tired out–ate our okonomiyaki (see post about noodles) and returned to Kyoto on the fast, clean, peaceful JR train.

Kozan-ji

We had eaten in, shopped, wandered, and explored Kyoto for a week and were unsure how to spend our last day in the city before heading to Kanazawa. Kozan-ji temple was an hour on a city bus to the outskirts, it appeared, of the city. Now, taking an hour long bus ride sounds boring and maybe even miserable, but in Kyoto it was quite nice. Through the middle of the city, past downtown, climbing through green neighborhoods, and suddenly we were in mountains. We got off the bus and felt like we were back in California–big trees, a rushing river. A very short walk back a-ways and up a stone path took us into the Koran-ji temple grounds.

It’s difficult to describe how quiet and picturesque it is. A few lingering cherry blossoms added bits of white to the views. The stonework, dead quiet gardens, and very small temples were the opposite of Horyu-ji–no school groups, no massive buildings, no wide plazas. We spent an hour or so taking it all in, walked down the stone path and across the road, and within ten minutes were back on a bus to Kyoto proper.

Kyoto Bakeries

I love a great croissant, especially in Portugal. Or Kyoto. I love good, strong, fresh coffee. Together? The perfect vacation breakfast.

We had visited Ogawa Coffee, in the Kyoto Station underground, many times but when we went looking for it our first morning in town we couldn’t find it. Happily we did find an even better option and went every morning of the week we were in town–Grandir Kyoto Porta Store, marked with a big sign reading “Boulangerie Patisserie.” (A second option, which was en route to the Kyoto Handicraft Center, we also loved–Le Bac a Sable. Amazing cafe au lait and, again, French pastry to die for.)

Great things about Grandir: the cool cash collection system (drop coins onto a conveyer belt thingy and watch them sort and tally), the array of pastry options (thank you again Google translate for the ability to read what the more mysterious items were) and the delicious coffee (free refills) that you get from the machine next to the cashier. Beans are ground to order, coffee is among the best I’ve ever had, and the extremely rich cream…well, it’s all yummy. Take, you know, that one Porta (underground shops) staircase down, it’s right there. Free wifi, too.

Philosphers Path

This well-known walk in Kyoto, even when lots of tourists are in the area, is well worth the short bus ride to its beginning. During cherry blossom/sakura season it’s so much more and even though we had walked it on a prior visit we had to return. There’s not much more to say. Don’t miss it if you are in town.

My Artist Sister’s Request

When asked what she wanted as a gift from Japan my ridiculously talented artist sister had one desire–handmade paper. Okay! I asked cousin Harumi for her recommendation Kyoto and she said she did have a favorite place but wasn’t able to find it on a previous visit. Google maps to the rescue–there it was, Kajimi Kakimoto, not a long walk from downtown.

I had no clue what I was looking for and had neglected to ask my sister what her intentions were for the paper. Fortunately the young man working there was so helpful; unfortunately the inventory is enormous. But after his guidance I was able to select several kinds, and two big colored sheets that had to go into a tube, and we left satisfied. That tube was a source of anxiety the rest of the trip because it was “too long” for carry-on and Zipair is extremely fussy about dimensions and weights of checked and carry-on luggage. Happily, when we checked in for our return, after several conferences and a second visit, by the young man at check in, to the place where travelers can measure bags, and a quick consultation with a supervisor, it was judged ‘okay.’

A fun discovery after our purchase was that according to the map even though we were quite a way north of the train station it was a straight shot down the same narrow street all the way to our hotel. As we got within a few blocks of the Dormy Inn David and I looked at each other. Wait a minute–isn’t that the Family Mart (konbini) we went to when we were looking for that terrific izakaya (bar with food) on our last visit? When we couldn’t find the bar anywhere and finally snuck down a dark hallway off a parking space, tentatively slid open the shoji screen, and discovered a hopping bar scene? Yes, it was! Yup, we had to go back!

Bar Food

Kurakura, a place I had found randomly on Trip Advisor last time we were in Kyoto, was and is a fantastic izakaya a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We couldn’t have been happier we found it again–I had no record of the name and only a vague memory of how we found it.

In we went, to be asked if we had a reservation. Reservation? Uh, no. Five minutes later we were seated at the bar–where we wanted to be. The place was hopping for a midweek night. We ordered a large sake and ran down the familiar menu and ordered five or six dishes. Sake was a local Kyoto brand, cold and dry. Food was mostly fried and delicious. We made short work of all of it and left happy and full.