Kyoto- Part 1

Okay okay, I know it’s the middle of summer, but it’s gotten so hot in Japan that I’m dreaming of fall at the moment. I am looking back at November 2022 where we had the most dreamy autumn adventure in Kyoto. It was seriously an autumn wonderland and I absoluteley loved our trip there.

First….I can’t skip past the train pics. A rainy travel day and a lovely trip on the shinkansen. We made it to the hotel for some sumo on the tv and delicious tempura for dinner.

Our first full day in Kyoto was jam packed with lots of Japanese amazingness. We started with a trip to Nishiki Market. This five block shopping street has all the food related shops from seafood, produce, sweets. We honestly didn’t buy anything except some candies for the boys but it was fun to just walk through and see this type of market.

After exploring the market we went to the Samurai museum and got the chance to throw some ninja stars and dress up. They didn’t allow pictures in the museum so I didn’t get to much of the actual museum part.

After the Samurai museum we went to a place where they dress you in the traditional kimonos (Jackie looked so pretty!) and had a kid friendly tea ceremony. This was so much fun and the boys loved dressing up and feeling like fancy Japanese. During the tea ceremony portion they gave us a sweet treat and showed us the tea process from purifying all the cups and items used, mixing the green tea, and of course drinking it. They gave the kids juice, tea would not have gone over well with them. After the tea part they gave us time in their cute garden for pictures.

After our tea ceremony we found a cafe for lunch where Jon took a nap. We then walked to Gion to the famous Hanamikoji Street up to the popular Yasaka Pagoda and continued up Sannen-Zaka path.

We ended the street at Kiyomizu dera Temple (Buddhist Temple) where we explored the grounds a little bit as the sun set.

Japan really likes illumination events and this temple also had an evening autumn illumination event. It was very crowded but seeing the colorful trees lit up at night was so cool. You can see in the first two pictures below the mass of people waiting for the perfect photo as the sun set. (The temple even had a blue laser beam! You can see it in some of the photos.)

We ended the evening with a long walk to find a bus to take us back. This was our first experience with a super jam packed bus. The tired boys were not happy about being squished in but we made it back to our hotel to finish the night with some 7/11 quick eats. Always find fun things there like pokeball onigiri!

This ends our first day in Kyoto, can’t wait to share about our other days!

BRB, Out to Japan- Jackie