Last post

Before heading off to the airport, I managed to catch the monthly fleamarket at Toji Temple and bought Jim the happi coat I'd been looking for.

Nijo Castle and Fushimi Inari Temple

Thought I'd try a castle for a change.  It was hard to get a real feel for the place when doing the circuit with millions of schoolchildren and other tour parties.  But those bold warriors who tried to sneak into the castle certainly had their work cut out for them with "nightingale" floors squeaking if they did manage to breach the defences.

Impressive entrance

Samurai challenges? 

Fushimi Inari Temple

Fushimi Inari Temple really was just five minutes away by local JR Nara line train.  Didn't ride many local trains but this was definitely the most efficient way to get there. It looked just like the pictures I'd seen and I even manage to eat dinner from the street stalls outside.

There are statues of foxes everywhere!

Note the offering.  It's a shrine giving thanks for rice, hence sake.

I WOZ ERE

A route to Kyoto Station through lanes near my first Kyoto hotel

Lovely to get back to the welcoming bows from reception... and the breakfast of Japanese (and European) treats. Almond pudding ... yum!  Definitely a  recipe to find and attempt.

From the train, you see acre upon boring acre of tile-rooved stone houses and apartment blocks - though the laundry-filled verandas with futons hanging by massive plastic hooks provide some interest. You rush past solar panel farms, manicured unidentified vegetable crops and stylish bridges spanning  rivers where fishermen stand mid-stream.  It is surprisingly green but  it all seems crowded and impersonal.  On foot, the narrow lanes of wooden latticed houses - with lovingly tended pots and trees coaxed to fit tiny spaces beside doorways - have a cosy, intimate feeling.  It was wonderful having the confidence to explore. I found an excellent wool-shop but the wool was very fine and the phrase book and google translate didn't help, so I bought neither wool nor buttons.