Travel With Phie

Day 3: Off to Kyoto

Today we woke up a bit later than day before as we finally had adjusted to the time zone and had full bellies to sleep off.  Ashley & John went for a run while the rest of us went to explore the nearby gardens. We walked through the first one which was pretty small but had a couple big things to see. It was very pretty with a building in the middle as well as a little memorial to the side. We took in the views before continuing to the next Garden. 

The next garden was just across the street so we made our way over, only to realize it was closed for another 15 minutes. So, of course made a quick detour to 7/11. We walked back around a half mile to the closest 7/11, walked in looked around and decided to go to the one closest to our place as it was better stocked with the items we were seeking. But at this point it was almost 9am which meant the gardens were open and so we made our way back to explore them. 

We arrived just before 9am and to our delight the gardens had opened early. They were what seemed to be a peaceful Zen garden. The gardens had a little walking path around the main center pond. This is when we decided to take a stroll all the way around. When we looked into the pond we were expecting to see fish, which we did but we also saw a ton of turtles! It was a fun little surprise. The gardens were gorgeous and what I was expecting when I pictured  a classic Japanese Garden. After our brief walk around we headed back towards the Airbnb to make our quick 7/11. We got some goodies and then continued back to the Airbnb to pack up and check-out. We finished packing did a sweep of our place and headed to the Metro to hop on the bullet train to Kyoto. 

We hopped on the Metro which dropped us off at Tokyo Station. We then headed toward our platform to find a quick place for a snack before getting on. We found a place within the station called ‘Organics’ which I grabbed a Matcha and a muffin. The Matcha was amazing and tasted like ice cream, the muffin was not great. After we all got our items we continued onward to our platform to await for the train. 

Once the train arrived we got in line and boarded. We grabbed our seats and about 5 minutes later the train left the station heading towards Kyoto. On the train everyone did their own things. I worked on my blogs, Nick/John/Laura worked on the NY Crossword, and Ashley slept. 2 hours later we had arrived and it was time to explore a new city. 

Once we arrived at Kyoto Station, we went to find the storage lockers. Which  honestly took us a while to find the lockers, but 10 minutes after searching we finally arrived to the lockers. We stored our bags and then went to explore the station and find snacks for lunch. We found a little convenience store which had a great variety of snacks for the liking by all parties. Once we grabbed our snacks we simply ate them standing up right outside the store. 

We walked through the rest of the station stores including one that had KitKat Sake. We decided that instead of walking around with it until we could check-in at 5pm, we would pick it up after exploring the city nearby the station. Ashley and I found a cool water machine that dropped water in shape formations while we waited for the others to browse through. Once everyone was finished we headed towards the Temple.

The temple was around a 10 minute walk from Kyoto Station. It was hot as heck and the humidity was getting to us, but we finally arrived. It was a pleasant surprise to see that when we arrived there was a little farmers market / craft fair happening outside. It was all local / handmade items. We walked up and down the booths taking in the beautiful art. I ended up getting a couple beautiful Sake cups from an elder gentleman. When we said we were going to purchase a couple items his entire face lit up and I could not have been happier with my decision. I later learned that had been making pottery for over 35 years and had won a couple awards throughout the Country. 

After perusing the market, we made our way into the temple and walked around the Shrines. The temple was the one of the largest wooden structures in the world and the grounds were gorgeous. We meandered around for another 20-30 minutes or so before Ashley and I decided to get our portrait done by one of the artists on the street. After our painting was finished and we stopped at a vending machine to get bottled water, we went back to Kyoto Station to acquire our luggage. 

We grabbed our luggage and walked to our Airbnb. The walk was hot, but 15 minutes later we had finally arrived at the Airbnb. We quickly huddled in, dropped our bags, selected our rooms, and headed out to get a sushi dinner (the first of the trip). The dinner place was one that Nick had found that was relatively close to our Airbnb which was perfect. We walked in and again due to our large group size got the back room. This time, however, we were prepared and knew to remove our shoes prior to entering. 

We sat down, looked at the menu, and all ordered our food. Our orders ranged from Ashley with egg and cucumber rolls to Nick and John ordering a random assortment of sushi. Overall, the food was delicious! There was only one item that we were not a huge fan of and this was what we deemed the “cream fish.” The ‘cream fish’ developed its name as John ate it and deemed that the more you chewed  the creamer it got. This was then when the rest of the table (minus Ashley who is vegetarian) had to give it a try. Laura went first with a massive slice and agreed with a very interesting look to her face as she chewed.  Nick then took his turn with a smaller bite and lastly, I followed suit. It was an interesting experience, but I think we can all agree we were glad we tried it. 

After we finished up dinner, we of course made a pit stop at 7/11 before we took the metro to go visit the Izakaya Bar Alleyway that Nick had found. We took the train roughly 15 minutes before exiting and walking on our way. The issue with walking to places is that you usually find little stops along the way. Which, of course, this time we did as well. When we exited the train it lead us directly into the main shopping district of Kyoto which meant we stopped in and out of a few shops along the way to the bars. 

Once we finished shopping and were ready to drink we continued down the street to the Bar Alley. We took a stroll down the street until we found a nice looking bar. We hopped into the bar and took 5 of the barstool seats. We mainly all ordered beers and sake. We hung-out and chatted for a while. Met the family sitting next to us who was also from Colorado (such a small world). Once we had finished our drinks we decided to do a little bar hopping and move onto the next. 

The second bar was for sure the best one of the night. We found it by simply continuing to wonder down the street and into different offshoot alleyways. There were only around 6-7 seats in the entire bar, so we took of most of the area, but the bartender did not mind. John, Nick, and Myself all ordered Sake while Ashley and Laura got waters. We hung out chatting amongst ourselves and the bartender for a while. She even made us some fun Origami while we chatted and hung out. After a while, Laura and Ashley headed to bed while the rest of us stayed out. 

About 20 minutes after the other girls had left a Japanese man walked in and joined us at the bar. He spoke minimal English and us almost no Japanese but with hand gesture and a little help from the bar tender we made conversation. Our bar tender also handed us a helpful / daily Japanese phrases to us. It was honestly very helpful and we practiced our Japanese for a while. When it was Nick’s turn for Origami towards the end of the night, she had him take a selfie. We were all slightly confused but when she finished she put a samurai hat on the photo to make it look like he was wearing it. It was hilarious and very well done. 

After a little while longer we continued to chat before grabbing the check and continuing to our final bar. We simply walked outside and followed the signs to ‘Bar’ and went it. Minus the neon Bar sign it was very much speakeasy vibes. We were a little loud for the crew so ordered Japanese plum wine, drank it, paid and headed out. 

We walked down the alleyways listening to some Bruce Springsteen before finding a little park and taking a journey down the slides. We continued through the rest of the alley before deciding to just walk the entire way home (when I say we decide – John and I made the executive decision). We walked the 2.5 miles home and got back around 1am. 

We got back, I quickly showered, and we headed to bed before our early morning wake up. A fun night of adventure! 

Cheers!