Fall Vacation in Kyoto

We moved to Kyoto in the early morning. We went to Kiyomizu temple stage which is one of the most famous place in Kyoto. We got there at 8 am.There were already incredible amount of people.

We were not hurry. We took a long time to enjoy the stage.

The small streets on the way to Kiyomizu temple have many souvenir shops. Yatsuhashi is the famous Kyoto sweet rice dough coated in cinnamon. We tasted so many and bought several for Jesse who is working in Nogoya.  We went to Arashiyama, supposed to be a quiet area of Kyoto was no longer quiet. We took a trolley by the river and took a river rafting boat back. 

There were a couple exciting splash on our face during rafting.
Wherever kids see water they need to go in. We took a little break.

We went to a hidden temple away from Kyoto.  It was beautiful.

However it looks like struggling to maintain old buildings.

There used to be many local residents to take care of temple and have family tombs. 

I hope they find a way to preserve old buildings.

Kids found a cool samurai sward like umbrella.

Kyoto cuisine is pretty. Yuba, tofu sheet is famous. I don’t need to eat Kyoto food any more.

Our two night three days in Osaka and Kyoto trip was over. Back in Nagoya, my mom and I went to  public bath not far from my house at 6 am (!!). They have early bird discount. It was nice way to start a day (anyway, my mother gets up at 5). Jesse asked me why we go to a public bath. We like big bath room and tub. When we sock ourself into hot water feel like into paradise.  The one near our house has more than 10 different big bath tubs in the open place indoor and outdoor. The electric bath is fun. Low frequency electric current runs in the bath for whatever health reasons. It stings  a tip of fingers little when you get in the bath. There a European style soda bubble bath, steam bath and several sauna rooms. After morning cleansing treatment,we went to a Komeda coffee shop.

Nagoya has so many local coffee shops not Starbucks. Nagoya style coffee shops offer breakfast set menu and coffee comes with a toast bread and boiled egg. One coin 500 yen price is attractive. My co-worker told me her parents who are local and already retired go to Komeda every morning. Komeda’s special break fast set menu is sweet bean spread for a toast. The whole thing was a new experience for me, taking a bath at 6 and drinking coffee at 7 at shop. Another good thing is these local coffee shops do not offer WiFi instead they offer free newspapers and magazines. I enjoyed it so much. Next day at 8 am, I took Jesse and kids. There was already 40 minutes waiting. We have a good reason to start day early.

My mom took a bullet train from Nagoya station. I and kids went together to say good bye. We had Nagoya famous flat noodle. It was simple yet delicious.  I need to bring Jesse next time.