3 Dads, 3 Sons - adventure bound we set off for 10 days in Japan.
Couple of long flights via KL and we arrived with about an hours sleep each. Still good to arrive and we landed in Kansai airport at around 8am .. Kansai airport is around 40 mins out of Osaka..
Validated our rail passes and caught a train to Koyto.. with guide maps in hand we then connected to the local subway and walked with suitcases until we found our best western hotel in the central and shopping district of Kyoto.
Unfortunately we couldn't check in until 3pm and so decided to go exploring.. Dog tired we had some food and caught the subway to Nijo Castle... This is a castle built in the 16th century by the ruling Shoguns... It is a massive white walled castle surrounded by a big moat set in the most stunning of Japanese gardens.. a lot of the cherry blossoms had finished their flowering however there were still brilliant coloured Azaleas, Rodedenrums, camellias lining the paths, with a backdrop of different coloured maples, flowering crab apples and big bonsai looking trees.
Wandered back and checked in and freshened up before heading out for the arvo..
Found a great beer shop and mini mart next door.. Dads tried a few beers, whilst the boys went shopping for a purple 3 toed sloth.
As mentioned the hotel is really well located and in the heart of Koyto, found a Japanese barbecue type place next door that had the hotplates set into the tables. The tables were sunken and it had a charming warm atmosphere.. Had some great food and beer.
Stumbled back to our rooms exhausted but a great afternoon of soaking up a little bit of their culture.
Day 2 - woke up around 6 ish and went out wandering.. came across Scott doing the same thing and so we decided to walk up to the river which is around 10mins away.. then we strolled along towards Gion district which is the cultural heart of koyto.. Gion is famous for its cobblestone lanes leading up into the mountains in one of the last traditional Geisha Girl areas. However didn't make it to Gion and saving that for tonight..
The little walk was a highlight also, in the near distance you can see the green mountains and the river is probably from the snow melt in the mountains, there is a walking strip along the river that is part of whats called "the philosophers walk" again magnificent cherry trees, crab apples, flowering trees, soft maples, line the river and on the other side of the river is a mass of lane ways in 2-3 storey houses of timber / stone design.
Off to the golden temple, which is in the outer districts of koyto, however once there you feel like you in the mountains, which do provide a backdrop to the area.
From here we then caught the bus back and went for a walk and found the imperial gardens.
These are in the middle of the city and would probably be at least 100 ha's in size. The gardens is an understatement really, they have several sections which includes water features, temples, grassed areas and even a few baseball fields.
Being in Japan we managed to score some front row seats for the boys at the baseball.
Seating was pretty limited but we knew we were in luck when we scored these.
Further around the gardens we all got the cameras out and took some beautiful photos over the temples/bridges and water features.
Was fairly brisk, even though well into their spring here the weather was probably around 15 but had a strong wind chill factor.
Couple of long flights via KL and we arrived with about an hours sleep each. Still good to arrive and we landed in Kansai airport at around 8am .. Kansai airport is around 40 mins out of Osaka..
Validated our rail passes and caught a train to Koyto.. with guide maps in hand we then connected to the local subway and walked with suitcases until we found our best western hotel in the central and shopping district of Kyoto.
Unfortunately we couldn't check in until 3pm and so decided to go exploring.. Dog tired we had some food and caught the subway to Nijo Castle... This is a castle built in the 16th century by the ruling Shoguns... It is a massive white walled castle surrounded by a big moat set in the most stunning of Japanese gardens.. a lot of the cherry blossoms had finished their flowering however there were still brilliant coloured Azaleas, Rodedenrums, camellias lining the paths, with a backdrop of different coloured maples, flowering crab apples and big bonsai looking trees.
Wandered back and checked in and freshened up before heading out for the arvo..
Found a great beer shop and mini mart next door.. Dads tried a few beers, whilst the boys went shopping for a purple 3 toed sloth.
As mentioned the hotel is really well located and in the heart of Koyto, found a Japanese barbecue type place next door that had the hotplates set into the tables. The tables were sunken and it had a charming warm atmosphere.. Had some great food and beer.
Stumbled back to our rooms exhausted but a great afternoon of soaking up a little bit of their culture.
Day 2 - woke up around 6 ish and went out wandering.. came across Scott doing the same thing and so we decided to walk up to the river which is around 10mins away.. then we strolled along towards Gion district which is the cultural heart of koyto.. Gion is famous for its cobblestone lanes leading up into the mountains in one of the last traditional Geisha Girl areas. However didn't make it to Gion and saving that for tonight..
The little walk was a highlight also, in the near distance you can see the green mountains and the river is probably from the snow melt in the mountains, there is a walking strip along the river that is part of whats called "the philosophers walk" again magnificent cherry trees, crab apples, flowering trees, soft maples, line the river and on the other side of the river is a mass of lane ways in 2-3 storey houses of timber / stone design.
Off to the golden temple, which is in the outer districts of koyto, however once there you feel like you in the mountains, which do provide a backdrop to the area.
From here we then caught the bus back and went for a walk and found the imperial gardens.
These are in the middle of the city and would probably be at least 100 ha's in size. The gardens is an understatement really, they have several sections which includes water features, temples, grassed areas and even a few baseball fields.
Being in Japan we managed to score some front row seats for the boys at the baseball.
Further around the gardens we all got the cameras out and took some beautiful photos over the temples/bridges and water features.
Was fairly brisk, even though well into their spring here the weather was probably around 15 but had a strong wind chill factor.
Wow... Looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are all having a wonderful time
jen