Kyoto

We got back last Saturday from our trip to Kyoto/Osaka, and man did I take A LOT of pictures! It was a wonderful getaway that gave us a taste of old Japan. I decided when I booked this trip back in March (mostly outta necessity), to rent a house for part of this trip. It was going to be expensive, but so were all of the hotels I was looking at, the few that weren't already booked up, that is. I'm not sure why travel in Japan is so expensive, but it is! Anyway, we were excited to stay in a traditional Japanese machiya. These are the wooden two story structures, no inside doors, sliding screens, futons on the floor, the whole bit, the whole experience. We traveled by bullet train and arrived in Kyoto about 2 pm.

This is the Kyoto Station, bullet train, local trains, subway, buses, all can be accessed from here. It's cool, and always busy.
I was amazed at how quickly we were able to find the house we were staying at. Once we found our bus and our bus stop, the house was a five minute walk away.

One of the reasons I booked the house I did was because so many of the reviews talked about it being in the perfect location, and it was! It was literally across the way from the Yasaka Pagoda. This 5 story pagoda is said to be at least 1000 years old!

and tucked down this little alley, was this great house. We nicknamed it the 'doll house', it really was tiny, but very warm.

The entryway; there is a little stone area when you first come in to take off your shoes before you step up to wood floors.

Upstairs. After we dropped our stuff we set out to check out the neighborhood, and quickly realized we were staying right off the famous Ninen-Zaka Path. This is a pedestrian only street lined with shops and restaurants. This takes you back to old Japan, and it was lovely. This was the highlight of the trip for me, staying on this lovely street, and walking up and down.

Hello Kitty restaurant.

Endless shops!

After we got some dinner we walked up to Kiyomizu-dera temple. It's one of the big ones in Kyoto, it's stunning, set on a hillside, and this time of year after dark, it's lit up.

I really need to learn how to use my camera better, my night shots are disappointing.

The whole hillside was lit up.

This is the wooden structure that supports the temple. It was really neat to be here after dark but we knew we wanted to come back to see everything in the daylight.

A tad blurry.

Much more to come.