Kyoto, Japan {Part 1}

We started this morning off by catching a Nozomi Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto. After a yummy lunch of Tonkatsu (and two bottles of sake) on the famed restaurant floor of Kyoto Station, we took a shuttle to our hotel. 

We booked a traditional Japanese room at the Westin Miyako and LOVED it. We had a balcony in the woods, tatami mats, shoji doors, wooden tub, and they bring you hot tea and pull out a mattress to sleep on at night. So fun!

 Our first afternoon, we took a page out of our Lonely Planet guidebook and took a walking tour of Southern Higashiyama. We started at Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple. There is a theory that if you were to survive the 13m jump from the stage into the river below, one's wish would be granted. We didn't test this out...

It was pretty hot outside, so we had some matcha (green tea) shaved ice to cool off. After, we continued our walk through the area. We saw Chion-in, Shoren-in and a lot of streets filled with so much charm!

The next morning, we woke up and made the quick walk from our hotel to Nanzen-ji. This area was fun to walk around and Jason said it felt like we were transported into an anime movie.

Next, we took the Philosopher's Path on the way to Ginkaku-ji or the Silver Pavilion. This walk was nice and relaxing. You can even see us being very philosophical in a picture below.

Gingkaku-ji ended up being our favorite temple. Even though it was was overcast, the gardens were just beautiful and it wasn't nearly as crowded as the crazy Kinkaku-ji the next day. It was very "zen" I guess!

After this, we caught a cab over to Yoshikawa Inn Tempura for an amazing 12 course meal - 4 fish and 8 veggies. The place was tiny (11 total seats!) and we got to see the master at work. The tempura was so delicious and light. Add in a few Asahi beers and it was perfect.

From there, we made a quick walk over to Nishiki Market to check out the stalls. We picked up some chopsticks, souvenirs and other nick nacks there. One thing I can still vividly remember is the overpowering smell of pickled vegetables and fermented fish flakes. Not the best.

Up Next: There is no way Kyoto can be smushed into one post, so look for the recap of Part 2 soon!

Tokyo, Japan {Part 2}

On our second (really third) day in Tokyo, we were still waking up extra early due to the time difference, so we took advantage. We headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market at 5 am. 

It was amazing to see all of the different types of fish, but even MORE amazing to try them! We ate a few different things there, but our favorite was a tuna sampler from a Sushizanmai. AMAZING. Best sushi of our lives without question.

After that, we headed north to the Asakusa Area to see Senso-ji. At all temples there is a box where you shake out a numbered stick. You match the number to a box and pull out a fortune. I ended up getting a bad one, so in a picture below, you can see me tying it to a stand to get rid of it. That's the point at least!

 

Afterwards, we headed to the Imperial Palace and ended up taking a lovely (NOT) 5km walk around 1/2 of the outside before we gave up on finding the entrance. Whoops. We headed to Shinjuku Station for an attempt at finding LaDuree. We fared MUCH better! We weren't feeling too guilty about all the snacks due to the fact that were were easily walking 10 miles a day. Ouch!

A lot of the big (11-12 stories!) shopping malls are at the train stations. The basement usually has a grocery store (good for cheap eats) and the top floor is usually filled with restaurants. Just walking around this place was a cultural experience. It was definitely evident that people in Tokyo are some of the most fashionable in the world. 

To be honest, Tokyo was great, but overwhelming in every sense. We were happy to head south to spend 5 days in peaceful Kyoto - up next!