Last day in Osaka: you guessed it, cue the RAIN. At this point, Tsana was so over the rain, she wouldn't let us go outside until it was over. Thankfully, it was short-lived and we took the opportunity to go for a jog. Osaka, or at least the part we are in, is a very commercial city, so the running wasn't very pretty and we were transported back to elementary school where we felt like our dodgeball skills came into play. Let me tell you, we had skillz - like a cat!
We were craving something not-Japanese for food, so an American breakfast sounded just up our alley. Oddly enough, a Hawaiian place called Eggs'n'Things (which Dave thinks he went to when he lived in Hawaii) fit the bill and Tsana got her plate of potatoes, and was satisfied.
After a long walk back to the hotel for our bags, we headed to the Shinkansen station (aka the bullet train) to go to Kyoto. We were almost 2 hours early and about to just hang out, but Tsana, being the innovator and forward-thinker she is, went to ask if we could get an earlier train since leave every 15 minutes. The woman at the counter was like "of course" (in Japanese, so we assume that's what she said) and we were able to get the next train which left 6 minutes later.
The train from Osaka to Kyoto, which is about 40 miles and takes an hour by car, took us 15 minutes in the train. Dave was in little-kid-land and didn't know what to do with himself, until we were done a mere 13 minutes later, and he was able to calm down.
Taxi ride down, and we get into our place - let's just say this is the best yet. Not only do we have an American room and a Japanese room, but there it's a full two story house, albeit small, but comfy - but the stairs are STEEP (if you've ever been in an Amsterdam home, you know what I mean). Let's just say we have to go down the stairs sideways to ensure we don't fall (although we have accepted our fate that it is bound to happen). Kyoto is very different than all the other cities we've been to so far - much more quiet and quaint, with tiny winding streets, an old traditional flair with super cute shops and bakeries.
Next on the agenda was conveyor belt sushi - a MUST in Japan, obviously. We walked there and went through a freakin' adorable, historical part of Kyoto before crossing over into the modern part, which could not be more different.
If you don't know, conveyor belt sushi is where everyone sits around a center section where plates of roll past on a conveyor belt, and you pick what you want. Each one has a label of what you are eating as well as 1-2 pieces on each. The plates are colored and priced differently per color (the golden ones are the most expensive). We ate about 14 plates-ish worth.
On our scenic walk home, we saw all the little alley-ways that you can walk down which will have a tiny little bar or restaurant to check out. The necessary addition of the Japanese lanterns outside of each space made it even more Disney-like.
Something else we also found while strolling in Kyoto is that often, you find yourself at a temple, like we did, several times. First on the way home was the Yasaka-jinja Shrine - which is open 24/7, so we ventured in and took some pics. Then we stumbled upon the Hokan-ji temple - they just keep coming!
Tsana also found these raccoon-dogs (tanuki) statues on many doorsteps, that are REAL animals?! Apparently the folklore says that during the spring, they turn into humans and sing - not sure the purpose there, but that's the word on the street.
Tomorrow on the agenda: an almost-full-day bike tour of the city, and maybe some Kobe beef for Dave.