Published: 08.06.2025
This morning at 9:37, I was jolted awake rather abruptly – with the words: 'You had one job: set the alarm for 8:30!' Now, let’s be honest: I DID set the alarm! Well... for Monday. And today is apparently Sunday. That this was a phone preset and not that I’m the problem is, of course, seen differently by Ramona. In any case, a good hour of the morning was already wasted – and there were still many tasks left: packing luggage, eating, Ramona wanted to wash her hair, and probably five more things that I've forgotten again. In the end, something had to be crossed out. Let’s put it this way: We didn’t skip food and there will be no pictures of Ramona uploaded today 😃
In any case, today it’s: See you later, Osaka! But really only until later – we’ll be back for the departure (in a week) to South Korea. But today we’re heading to the presumably spiritual capital of Japan: Kyoto – the city of 1,000 temples! Arriving around noon, we quickly dropped off our luggage at the hotel and went straight on – off to the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. What can I say: The last time I saw that many people in a forest was on the way to the forest stadium in Frankfurt 😄 But here in Kyoto, it was definitely more civilized, quieter – somehow more awe-inspiring. Right next to the bamboo grove is the Tenryū-ji, a Buddhist temple from the 14th century, and – of course – a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Sōgenchi garden behind it has, according to Wikipedia, remained almost original to this day, as it was laid out back then. Quite fascinating!
Afterwards, we strolled through the city, quite leisurely, spontaneously walking without much of a plan. Suddenly at Kyoto station, this scene: Ramona grabs a woman, completely unknown to me, by the arm and says: “I know you!” And I thought: Okay – this can only go in two directions: Either 'Hey, how funny that we meet here!' or 'Fuck, how embarrassing, totally mistaken.' Luckily they knew each other, so the woman named Jenny knows Ramona. A former colleague, last seen 12-13 years ago. Jenny was immediately goosebumps – how small is the world?! In any case, they chatted a bit and promised to not wait another 12-13 years for the next reunion.
We just kept walking – and not even 10 minutes later, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a huge temple. Just like that. Completely random. Such a place right in the city, as if this is completely normal. And yes, I already knew that 2 days in Kyoto would never be enough, but it’s becoming clear: We won’t even see a fraction – maybe one thousandth of a fraction of a fraction. According to the internet, this temple is among the largest wooden buildings in the world – but, surprise: not a World Heritage site. 😀
To conclude the day, we headed towards the hotel and picked out a cute little ramen place nearby. After all, we are local patriots or didn’t want to be too far from the cozy hotel room. Check out the pictures of the food, it was absolutely amazing again.
Now we’re going to sleep, but first I’ll set the alarm. We definitely won’t need it tomorrow 😂
