Given that we had a bit more time in Kyoto, I had planned our time here even less than our other destinations, so we started with a visit to the tourist information centre, which we'd been told was very good in Kyoto. It may well be, but we could barely see it for all the people in there, let alone talk to anyone. So we gave up fairly quickly after grabbing a map and set about planning our own adventures.
Unfortunately public transport in Kyoto is predominantly bus, and taking the stroller on them is virtually impossible. Fortunately we had been fore-warned about this, and even more fortunately Kyoto is actually an eminently walkable city, and it looks like we'll enjoy some fine weather while we're here. So we walked from the hotel to the east end of the Nishiki market (about 30 mins) and then strolled through there, enjoying lunch in tidbits along the way - steam buns, battered prawns, potato cakes. Saw plenty of local produce (though not sure exactly how local) both prepared and un-prepared as well as sweets, crafts, and even a shoe store. Eli was most pleased that we bought some strawberries, though we opted for just the large ones, rather than the half-the-size-of-an-adult's-fist ones that matched the various other oversized veggies. Seems Japan grows quite a few strawberries and we're here in just the right season ... come to think of it I saw some neatly manicured agricultural rows out the window of the Hikari which could easily have been strawberries.
Then it was on to Marayuma park for more hanami. This was quite a different affair to Shinjukugyoen ... No ban on alcohol here, and an abundance of makeshift food stalls (half of which sold alcoholic beverages) making for a fete-like festive atmosphere (not that Shinjuku was in any way not festive, just in a more family-in-the-park kind of way). A broader cross-section of ages here, including some teens/young adults playing cards, or even sleeping out in swags (not homeless as far as we could tell). The weeping cherries here are gorgeous, and get lit up at night so we got to explore the park twice - once in each "mode." Eli of course was once again very popular and we stopped various times for chats and photos (and sometimes food for Eli) with other sakura-viewers ... a number of whom were from out of town (particularly nearby cities like Osaka and Nara). We enjoyed an Indian dinner and sampled the squid balls that are apparently something of a local specialty ... they could do with more squid and less batter in my opinion! A couple of what are called "obuns" in the Asian shops in Adelaide (hot, custard-filled disc-shaped things) finished things off nicely.
Then it was a lovely late stroll back to the hotel (about 45 mins) fortunately with Eli asleep in the stroller, walking along a small waterway (I guess one might even call it an aqueduct?) that runs parallel to, and one street in from the river itself. This had some beautiful cherry blossoms and lanterns along it in its own right and in our view was a much better alternative to a bus ride back to the hotel!
Having slept a little poorly while trying to share a king size bed, we decided that tonight Eli would live in a little less luxury and be forced to share his bed with his Dad. The reasoning being that the two boys are sufficiently robust in the sleep and equally mobile, so they could probably thrash around and wallop each other a few times without waking each other up, and leave the sensitive young lady of the house to have her beauty sleep by herself :)
Monday, April 1, 2013
Day 5 - Bessho Onsen to Kyoto
Today consisted mostly of train travel ... Much to Eli's delight! First the Ueda Electric Railway, then the Asama Shinkansen to Tokyo before transferring to the Hikari Shikansen to Kyoto. About 5 hours of actual train travel all up, but some time waiting in stations in addition, though we opted for more of this than was absolutely necessary since we weren't confident of being able to find our way from the Asama to Hikari in under 15 mins with a toddler in tow having never been in Tokyo station before!! And besides we thought an opportunity to buy some lunch etc might be handy :)
Of course this was preceded by making sure we checked out of the ryokan in time to make a repeat visit to our friend at Bessyo Esspresso for takeaways. We weren't sorry we did.
The train travel was fairly uneventful. This was our opportunity to see Mt Fuji out the window, which we did, but our view was rather hampered by the fact that (a) it was quite foggy and (b) we were on the wrong side of the train. We'll see how we go on the way back. Eli was a bit ratty by the end of it all, unsurprisingly, but again handled it all as well as could be expected really.
We had a twin room at the Kyoto Tower Hotel booked, I think because the twin rooms are a little bigger than the doubles, and we'd talked about wanting a cot for Eli. We'd been told they had cots (unlike the hotel in Shinjuku) but couldn't book them in advance and it would cost extra. So we asked on arrival, but they seemed very sceptical about being able to fit it... but said they would try of course. On getting to our room, we discovered why ... not so much because the room is particularly small, but because there are two unnecessarily large (king size) singles occupying a huge amount of it (and which can't be pushed together. And then when housekeeping arrived with the enormous wooden cot on wheels (it did fold a bit, but it was not the portacot we expected!) it all became very clear! We had decided by that stage, though, that with the beds virtually being double beds that we could probably share one, and Eli take the other (luxury!), and that the one area of floor space was probably more useful to us without being completely overtaken with the cot. So we never found out if the cot could be made to fit.
Dinner was at an Italian place near the restaurant. Kyoto seems to be the place to go for Italian in Japan, though this one didn't seem to know what garlic bread was, which was a disappointing omission for an Italian pizza/pasta establishment! The most notable thing about dinner was encountering an anti-nuclear protest along the way. Relatively small, but a very tuneful bunch :) and our understanding is that the Japanese are not really given to protest, so it was quite impressive regardless of whether you agree with the cause, especially considering the spread of ages represented.
Of course this was preceded by making sure we checked out of the ryokan in time to make a repeat visit to our friend at Bessyo Esspresso for takeaways. We weren't sorry we did.
The train travel was fairly uneventful. This was our opportunity to see Mt Fuji out the window, which we did, but our view was rather hampered by the fact that (a) it was quite foggy and (b) we were on the wrong side of the train. We'll see how we go on the way back. Eli was a bit ratty by the end of it all, unsurprisingly, but again handled it all as well as could be expected really.
We had a twin room at the Kyoto Tower Hotel booked, I think because the twin rooms are a little bigger than the doubles, and we'd talked about wanting a cot for Eli. We'd been told they had cots (unlike the hotel in Shinjuku) but couldn't book them in advance and it would cost extra. So we asked on arrival, but they seemed very sceptical about being able to fit it... but said they would try of course. On getting to our room, we discovered why ... not so much because the room is particularly small, but because there are two unnecessarily large (king size) singles occupying a huge amount of it (and which can't be pushed together. And then when housekeeping arrived with the enormous wooden cot on wheels (it did fold a bit, but it was not the portacot we expected!) it all became very clear! We had decided by that stage, though, that with the beds virtually being double beds that we could probably share one, and Eli take the other (luxury!), and that the one area of floor space was probably more useful to us without being completely overtaken with the cot. So we never found out if the cot could be made to fit.
Dinner was at an Italian place near the restaurant. Kyoto seems to be the place to go for Italian in Japan, though this one didn't seem to know what garlic bread was, which was a disappointing omission for an Italian pizza/pasta establishment! The most notable thing about dinner was encountering an anti-nuclear protest along the way. Relatively small, but a very tuneful bunch :) and our understanding is that the Japanese are not really given to protest, so it was quite impressive regardless of whether you agree with the cause, especially considering the spread of ages represented.
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