Kyoto (Japan)

Kyoto is a special place! It has 1.5mln population; it is beautiful, people in Kyoto are friendlier, more helpful and speak more English than people in Tokyo!

The cherry blossoms here are fairytale – so pretty that it is insane. You have streets and alleys where you walk and just enjoy the views.

The Golden temple presents a brilliant creation of Japanese architecture and culture which combined with its garden can leave you breathless!

Apparently there is a lot of art in Kyoto and we went to see a presentation that included a few different arts. First was a short tea ceremony, then Koto music – a 13 string instrument that didn’t sound bad; Ikebana; then came Gagaku – court music… Well I don’t think that the Japanese music is widely appreciated simply because it is very different but this one was better than the Kabuki one! They even presented a short ancient comic play – Kyogen Theater which was interesting and funny – we even laughed just looking at the actors and listening Japanese. A dance (kyomai – Kyoto style dance) performed by Maikos presents how Geishas entertain people. And the last part was a puppet play which was OK.

Afterwards, came a tea ceremony which we attended, watched first and then had to follow all instructions and do the tea.. So many things to think about, spoon on 4 o’clock, container on 11 o’clock, this here, this there, wipe the cup 3.5 times and so on that I don’t think will ever do! But hey those people are trained for this and spend all their life exploring the tea ceremony!

The second day, we walk too long in a search of a temple, a street after a street, that enjoyed 2 taxi drives. But the Golden temple along with the river bank and the cherry blossoms were the reward.

Oh yes, the crafts center – not really a crafts place but a place to buy Japanese souvenirs and things… But people here have a different understanding of a crafts center I believe.

The third day was dedicated to the Philosophers’ pathway – a magnificent path along the canal with cherry blossoms tree hanging blossoms above you! They say that the name is due to the fact that many philosophers strolled the path in calm and beautiful environment, thinking and focusing on the life and their thought etc but nowadays I don’t think anyone would go there to do that since it is full of people. But it is really gorgeous!

The Ginkakuji temple and its garden were another precious walk! Afterwards the Eikando temple was explored with no shoes but that’s the rule.

After all the walks we decided that we need to refresh and found a Tofu restaurant which was charming and the tofu served absolutely delicious.

Then walked and walked, along canals, under the trees, meeting people – weird and not that weird and.. Seeing a few Geishas in the Gion area. I guess that every day around 6pm, it becomes crazy in Gion because people know that Geishas go out for their appointments, so in some places people just stay and wait and if a Geisha appears, armature paparazzi at their best (this evening, me included J ). But it is a must see view and I was lucky to capture a few with the camera!

Meanwhile we paid a short visit to the Maruyama park where the locals were sitting under the trees and having some food – weird view though, they somehow destroy the charm of the blossoms.

At the end of the day after wondering around for quite some time, we found a sushi restaurant, where we were sitting at the “bar” looking at the sushi masters preparing our meal – neat! Very neat! And the food.. oh, this raw fish.. oh delicious!

The third morning in Kyoto was the last of our stay because in the afternoon we headed to Osaka where we were planning to be based for the next couple of days (and we had to do it because when we were booking the hotels in December, we couldn’t find a hotel for a week in Kyoto). So we visited the food market Nishiki Ichiba Food market and the Rokkaku-do temple where the ikebana was created.

Early afternoon we took our beloved and red suitcases, took a taxi and went to the train station to take the next train that would take us to Osaka.

Kyoto will have a special place in my travel experience and memory with its amazing cherry blossoms, temples, atmosphere and culture. And all this in combination with dynamic business life!