Trains to Kyoto

After working our way back to the train station, we took the 1.5 hour trek to Osaka. Nicole claimed she was wide awake, but this picture indicates otherwise. In Osaka station, we barely caught our next train to Kyoto because there was a change in platform. One cannot be one minute late for a Japanese train or they will miss it. After getting to Kyoto, we struggled to find the correct exit that was closest to our hotel. There's never a sign for "North exit" or anything like that, it's always an exit named after someone which means absolutely nothing to us. We ended up walking all the way around the station to get to our hotel.

 After getting settled, we went to Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is known for its paths covered in orange torii gates. When we first arrived, we found it inundated with tourists, so the pictures one sees in magazines or guidebooks seemed impossible.


Fortunately as we walked higher up the mountain, the crowds thinned a bit and if we were patient, we could snap a couple shots without a French couple posing in front of our picture. As the sun began to set, the mosquitoes began to attack. Now we had to battle tourists and mosquitoes. It was a war being waged on two fronts that made our photography tasks difficult. The lower torii gates had hanging lanterns that illuminated them partially at night, so we started making our way back down to capture them in the new lighting.

I was happy with the photos I got. It's as if, at everyone just scattered at 7pm. Perhaps they were running from the mosquitoes. For dinner, we took another train north to some small streets and alleys with some shops and restaurants. We had picked the #8 restaurant on Tripadvisor called Beer Komachi. We figured it had an acceptable blend of Japanese food with familiar items. Nicole had sausages and rice balls. I ordered fish tempura with potatoes. I hadn't realized that this was actually just fish and chips by another name, but it was good nonetheless.

One hasn't truly had fish and chips (or should I say fish tempura with potatoes) until they have dunked their fries using chopsticks. It was a unique experience to say the least. #8 restaurant in Kyoto? I don't think so, but we finished off our meals in their entirety, which could not be said for last night's meal at the ryokan. You can only do so many fishy tasting items before it gets a bit overpowering. We washed our meals down with some local Kyoto beers. I tried a wheat beer and a stout. Both were pretty good, but I haven't seen these beers anywhere else in Japan. When we got back to our hotel, I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open while trying to blog, so there was a bit of a delay in the last two posts. Tomorrow we will probably do some shrine and temple hopping as it was what Kyoto is primarily known for. We also noticed that a train museum opened up last month. Like a little boy, I asked Nicole if I could go. She says it's ok if I'm good.