Moving and excursion to Gion

Day 6, 08/27/2023

Today is moving day. Our time in Osaka has come to an end and we are now “moving” to the former capital Kyoto.

Check out here is already 10:00 am, which means that we have to get up early because of course we didn't pack, let alone tidy up the day before.

Moritz was of the opinion that everything could be done in 25 minutes and unfortunately he was right.

I would have loved to say "Well, you have to get up earlier" again. Oh well…

Luckily our hotel had the great service that you could leave your bags in the foyer until you started your onward journey. We did this and got breakfast.

Where? Well, now you can all guess...

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Exactly! In the convenience store. But after looking for a seat for 20 minutes in vain, we decided to simply take the bank by the river, where someone emptied their stomach the night before. Apparently they had noodles for dinner...

We actually wanted to spend another 2 hours in the city, but the heat was bad again. So we decided to take the train 2 hours earlier.

I had picked out a special train for our trip, which only ran on weekends and then only 5 times (trains usually run here every 10 minutes).

It was the Limited Rapid Express, Kyoto Train Garaku, which didn't look like a normal train inside.

Each compartment showed Japan in a different season. The seats and floors, as well as wall coverings were also adjusted. In some wagons there were even small Zen gardens.

Unfortunately, I hadn't planned that we would have two large travel bags, two backpacks, two suitcases and a bag with us.. So we somehow squeezed into a double seat.

In addition, it was so cold on the train that even Moritz needed a jacket and that's saying something.

When we arrived we were hit again by the heat. After we took the train back, I hadn't quite adjusted the planning, my suitcase broke on the handle and Moritz the Good was allowed to drag my suitcase up and down twice, we finally arrived.

Although check-in was only 4:00 p.m. and we were already there at 3:00 p.m., the receptionist kindly let us into the room. Here, too, there is free sake, free coffee and hot and cold water.

The room is also beautiful and very comfortable.

We immediately felt comfortable.

After we had freshened up (we stank like the biggest assistants after our two-hour journey) we went to explore the streets in the evening and had dinner in a burger shop.

We just spent the evening in the room and relaxed.

Tomorrow was a cultural day in Gion, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Kyoto.

See you in the morning.

Day 7:

On August 28th, our first real day in Kyoto, we decided to explore the city, more precisely the district of Gion. Before that, however, we had breakfast at the hotel. Every morning you have the choice between the same four dishes, which all sound and are very tasty. Three of them are vegetarian and one is vegan, which makes it a lot easier for Jule.

Well strengthened we went to Gion, where we first visited the various temples that Kyoto has to offer. Among others the Kiyoizu Dera Temple, the Sannenzaka Temple and the Yasaka Shrine. These are quite in the heart of the ancient looking district of Gion. Afterwards we went to a cute Japanese café to cool down, where Jule had an iced coffee and I had an ice matcha with red bean paste and rice cakes. That was very delicious.

After that we visited two well-known old roads, which of course were situated on a mountain. So it was time to grit your teeth and get up. The district itself is very beautiful, with very narrow streets and houses that seem to come from another time.

Of course we also found time to eat something between the temple visits. There was ramen again, this time in a Michelin restaurant. It was very, very good again and the people here were also very friendly.

Actually we had planned to visit a museum after we visited the temples. However, the buses on the way there were so full that we decided to take a leisurely stroll through the city before heading back to the hotel.

On the way back we passed a river where we stopped for a while. But after 15 minutes we went back to the hotel because we were really exhausted.

Once there we rested a bit and then we explored our area. That was it, because we wanted to go to bed earlier.

Tomorrow we should go to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, let's see how it will be.

Thank you for reading and best regards from us :)