On a fine Wednesday morning we ate another luxurious breakfast in Kanazawa before heading to Kyoto by limited express shinkansen, taking about 2 hours. At Kyoto station we grabbed a cab and as usual I showed the Japanese address. The cab driver reacted right awy by indicating that the address was not completed and so tried to call the phone number that I saved as well from the airbnb site. Unfortunately it did not answer and so we were in a bind. We decided to go as close as possible following the direction given from the airbnb hosts, and I am very thankful for the driver for being patient with us. He was quite accommodating and dropped us at the end of the street where the directions stopped. Indeed we were in an area where a grid of old houses were lined up.
We had a photo of the front door of the apartment so I gathered and kept the suitcases with me and R&J tried to locate the house in parallel streets.While I was kicking myself for not confirming with the host, the guys eventually returned triumphant as they found it. With relief we got the key from the lockbox and were rewarded for our effort.
The house in Kyoto was a 130 year old house newly renovated. Its layout was typical with the sliding door entrance leading to a doma at street level where the kitchen stove and kettle stood, and on the right and elevated was the main tatami room for meals and tea, with a view and access to a small Japanese garden. Along the other side of the garden was the corridor to the toilet and hinoki bathtub.
Upstairs, 2 tatami rooms are separated by a fusuma and comfortable enough for 4 or 6 skinny people. Our host Seiji-san indicated we were the first visitors and indeed the smell of fresh tatami inundated the apartment.
We left our suitcases downstairs in the main entrance, and only brought up the necessary. We wanted to explore the Kyoto handicraft centre to get a sense of what was available before hitting the market. The idea was also to check if there were any hands on activities we could do as they offered some workshops on different crafts. Unfortunately there were nothing that day so we just browsed through the shop, where I bought plenty of paper soaps
Across the street, we stumbled on a sword shop, and so downt he rabiit hole we went.
I briefly toyed with the idea of buying a bokken, a practice sword made of wood, but the thought of the hassle travelling to Manila and back to Geneva with it was even heavier and cumbersome. However I was close to buying the katana hand guard, tsuba 鍔 / 鐔 (thing at the end of the sword to prevent your hand from advancing on the blade). They come in various intricate and delicate designs.
The shop also had all sorts of ninja gears, and I promised myself to travel light for the next trip and bring those iron items back in my suitcases.
We managed to extricate ourselves from the shop without being armed to the teeth, and walked to the
Nishiki market (錦市場), an intricate grid of covered alleys full of shopping temptations. As the sun was setting, the lanterns lit up and we were transported in Kyoto from another era.
Samll temples and glitening sacred cows also made their appearances, protecting commerce and the neighbourhood.
The entrance was inviting and we found seating at the counter to eat some delicious sushis. Afterwards we tried to return to our lodging by walking through the secretive eating places of Kyoto, hiding behind the inviting dim lights and shoji screens. This view of Kyoto is truly my favourite.
In the evening as we arrived back home our hosts left an envelope with a apology for not having given the full address. They also enclosed 3 tickets for viewing sakura at the nearby Kyumizu dera temple, which was awesome as I left a free day for the spontaneous.
The house in Kyoto was a 130 year old house newly renovated. Its layout was typical with the sliding door entrance leading to a doma at street level where the kitchen stove and kettle stood, and on the right and elevated was the main tatami room for meals and tea, with a view and access to a small Japanese garden. Along the other side of the garden was the corridor to the toilet and hinoki bathtub.
We left our suitcases downstairs in the main entrance, and only brought up the necessary. We wanted to explore the Kyoto handicraft centre to get a sense of what was available before hitting the market. The idea was also to check if there were any hands on activities we could do as they offered some workshops on different crafts. Unfortunately there were nothing that day so we just browsed through the shop, where I bought plenty of paper soaps
Across the street, we stumbled on a sword shop, and so downt he rabiit hole we went.
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The shop also had all sorts of ninja gears, and I promised myself to travel light for the next trip and bring those iron items back in my suitcases.
We managed to extricate ourselves from the shop without being armed to the teeth, and walked to the
Nishiki market (錦市場), an intricate grid of covered alleys full of shopping temptations. As the sun was setting, the lanterns lit up and we were transported in Kyoto from another era.
Samll temples and glitening sacred cows also made their appearances, protecting commerce and the neighbourhood.
After touring and getting dizzy we first got into a small bar for drinks. We werre back to the door and a draft kept cooling my butt so we got away after a drink to look for something cozier. After passing by the game arcade where I failed to get them to play taiko, we passed by a promising sushi restaurant.
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