Kyoto and Osaka

What I remember from Kyoto is that the people did indeed seem friendlier than Tokyo residents.  Since it was during spring break for most of the high schools, most of the popular temples were packed.  My parents and I skipped the “must-see” temples.  We went to Fushimi-inari jinja instead on the first day, a fox-themed temple with hundreds or possibly thousands of torii.  Torii are the gates to sacred spaces.

The most memorable day of the trip, it was pouring rain, and we didn’t visit any temples at all.  We went to see a very nice botanical garden, which was very beautiful despite the fact that we were too early for cherry blossoms.  We found (after much searching) an organic, vegetarian-friendly Japanese restaurant for lunch and then went to the Nishiki market to buy plenty of souvenirs.  There was a cat-themed shop we particularly liked, and since the market was covered, it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

We also spent a day in Osaka to see the impressive aquarium and take a look at the castle.  There was a lovely Mexican restaurant on one of the upper floors of Osaka station.  We headed back to Saitama the next day on the shinkansen, which was much smoother and more spacious than an airplane.  I’m really going to miss the shinkansen.