Japan - Part 3 Kyoto and Osaka (Dec. 2016-Jan. 2017)
Kyoto was my favorite city we visited in Japan. It mainly escaped all the bombings of WWII and was smaller than Tokyo and Osaka. There were so many sights to see! Unfortunately many places were closed over the New Year period we were that, but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves!
Our only real food experience that wasn't delicious was our first night in Kyoto. We wandered into a small restaurant and we were excited to grill our own dinner. Ted being his adventurous self ordered blindly from the menu as nothing was in English. Let's just say we got to experience MANY different parts of the chicken we don't usually eat. I tried them, but had trouble with the texture of most items.
We spent the following day wandering around the Gion neighborhood exploring some unique shops and spotting some geishas.
Knowing that many restaurants would be closed for New Years Eve, we stocked up on groceries and cooked some dinner. We even indulged in some traditional Japanese desserts!
After our bellies were full, we bundled up and headed out to the famous Chion-in Temple to ring in the new year. So many people and food stalls in every direction! Ted joined in the fun by burning a rope. We slowly snaked our way through the crowds to the large area to ring in the new year.
The giant bell is rung 108 times to symbolize the number of evil desires we suffer on earth. The bell is rung by a team of 17 monks. You can wait in line to witness this, but we decided to just enjoy the moment away from the lines. As the bell began to ring, I observed the startling difference to ringing in the new year back home. Usually it's a loud countdown followed by fireworks or confetti flying in the air. Listening to the bell ring while looking up at the magnificent temple nestled up next to Ted was such a surreal moment.
The following day we went to another temple to follow in Japanese tradition in which we wrote our well wishes on wooden plaques and rang in the bell. Japanese also buy their fortune on little white strips of paper. We watched and study the people in front of us to make sure we did the proper number of bows before and after ringing the bell!
We spent the next few days continuing to wander around the city.
We explored the bamboo forest...pretty, but more touristy than I was hoping it to be.
We hiked up the mountainside shinto shrine Fushimi Inari-taisha that dates back to 711 A.D. There were many people here, but we managed to find some space of our our and really take in that breathtaking path of hundreds of gates.
Kinkaku-ji was a tranquil and relaxing area with gardens and a pond that reflected the gold colored temple.
Attempted to get our zen on at Ryoan-ji garden and zen temple that showcases one of surviving examples of kare-sansui which is a garden featuring large rock formations and sweeping of smooth pebbles raked into patterns designed for meditation.
Onto Osaka....wow, culture shock again! The city is huge and we didn't even know where to begin so we focused on FOOD.
An hour train ride from Osaka is the castle. It was well worth the trip out there. It's not every day you get to tour a castle!
We also took a day trip to Nara...the town where the deer run free. Sooo cold that day! Beautiful town. Would love to go back and visit when it's warmer!
What an amazing trip! I can't wait to go back again during another season. There is still so much to see and explore in Japan!
Our only real food experience that wasn't delicious was our first night in Kyoto. We wandered into a small restaurant and we were excited to grill our own dinner. Ted being his adventurous self ordered blindly from the menu as nothing was in English. Let's just say we got to experience MANY different parts of the chicken we don't usually eat. I tried them, but had trouble with the texture of most items.
We spent the following day wandering around the Gion neighborhood exploring some unique shops and spotting some geishas.
Knowing that many restaurants would be closed for New Years Eve, we stocked up on groceries and cooked some dinner. We even indulged in some traditional Japanese desserts!
After our bellies were full, we bundled up and headed out to the famous Chion-in Temple to ring in the new year. So many people and food stalls in every direction! Ted joined in the fun by burning a rope. We slowly snaked our way through the crowds to the large area to ring in the new year.
The giant bell is rung 108 times to symbolize the number of evil desires we suffer on earth. The bell is rung by a team of 17 monks. You can wait in line to witness this, but we decided to just enjoy the moment away from the lines. As the bell began to ring, I observed the startling difference to ringing in the new year back home. Usually it's a loud countdown followed by fireworks or confetti flying in the air. Listening to the bell ring while looking up at the magnificent temple nestled up next to Ted was such a surreal moment.
The following day we went to another temple to follow in Japanese tradition in which we wrote our well wishes on wooden plaques and rang in the bell. Japanese also buy their fortune on little white strips of paper. We watched and study the people in front of us to make sure we did the proper number of bows before and after ringing the bell!
We spent the next few days continuing to wander around the city.
We explored the bamboo forest...pretty, but more touristy than I was hoping it to be.
We hiked up the mountainside shinto shrine Fushimi Inari-taisha that dates back to 711 A.D. There were many people here, but we managed to find some space of our our and really take in that breathtaking path of hundreds of gates.
Kinkaku-ji was a tranquil and relaxing area with gardens and a pond that reflected the gold colored temple.
Attempted to get our zen on at Ryoan-ji garden and zen temple that showcases one of surviving examples of kare-sansui which is a garden featuring large rock formations and sweeping of smooth pebbles raked into patterns designed for meditation.
Onto Osaka....wow, culture shock again! The city is huge and we didn't even know where to begin so we focused on FOOD.
We discovered one of the smallest bars ever! It could fit about 4 people comfortably!
More street food!
OMG look at the size of those scallops!
An hour train ride from Osaka is the castle. It was well worth the trip out there. It's not every day you get to tour a castle!
We also took a day trip to Nara...the town where the deer run free. Sooo cold that day! Beautiful town. Would love to go back and visit when it's warmer!
What an amazing trip! I can't wait to go back again during another season. There is still so much to see and explore in Japan!
Comments
Post a Comment