The next morning, I decided to record us in our kimonos as we prepared to go to our baths
and when we returned, it was time for breakfast and the realization that we would be moving on.
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As Americans, we were able to gain same day access to the Palace itself and so we waited for the gates to open
and when they did, we entered
and made our way through the buildings
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This was the day that we moved and so we made our way to the Miyako Hotel at the train station and because we couldn't check in, we hung out in the train station and tried to find things where the information center was not helpful (though very friendly).
We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant in the train station where this was the menu
and this was the beer we had
as Suzanne's meal came
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Once settled, we decided to do some exploring. The concierge at the hotel gave us a lesson in Kyoto buses and we began our adventure at platform D1 waiting for the 100 bus to the Ginkaku Temple (the Silver Pavilion)
and once off the bus, we were at the temple
recording the rules
as we made our way in
having passed up this hill with all of its shops.
This temple had raked sand around a single rock which was very spiritual
as was the cone of sand we saw there
as well as the garden
and the shrine where the bell could be rung.
The conical sand was quite impressive
as Suzanne observed
and you can imagine their concern about interference
with both sand gardens as we got closer to the raked garden
and then made our way to the gardens
and into the forest above
looking back at the sand gardens
and down at the fish in the pond
and the waterfall in the distance
to which had been added a different kind of sculpture though we suspect the coins caused more harm than good.
We marched on up the hill with Suzanne in the lead
and enjoyed the views of the temple grounds
and of the city below
sculpture
and special tree
about which this story is told
and moss
went along with this failed attempt to capture one of the local crows in flight
but I did catch him when he landed
and after this warped tree
caught another crow walking by
as we learned how the roof was made (and about the famous bamboo nails)
which probably did not come from this grove.
After capturing a few shots of this flower in bloom
we read the reasons why this is a world heritage site
and found our way to the start of philosopher's walk
where we saw the occasional fish
and hydrangeas of various colors
before coming to one of the bridges across the canal
and getting a view downstream
noting that there were temples and shrines all along the way
not to mention the obligatory phone booth photo
before we came across a shrine that had to be explored because of its base
and interesting animal pieces
and so we passed through the entry
to the shrine itself
where animals stood guard
and there was a bell to ring in the religious process
before Suzanne led the way
to the decorated pavilion
and on our way out we recorded the tale of the shrine
before admiring a turtle in the canal along philosopher's walk and wondering if it was real (I still say it wasn't)
and then recording a license plate
before heading back into town and finding a bar where we could order this gin and tonic
and this martini
not to mention nuts
and cheese elegantly prepared
and to have this picture of us
taken by the friendly bar tender
before we found our way to the river for a pleasant night time walk
where we were joined by this bird
and then after the bus ride to the station, we came to the aqua fantasy which was fireworks made of water which responded to the music being played