Gold leaf detailing on large wooden door

Outside the shrine with chanting monks

We caught a bus to our next stop known as Nijo Castle, a palace where the Shogun had been living. Not only was the outside of the complex stunning but it was composed of several buildings and various gardens. We had to take off our shoes to enter through some of the halls which held room upon room of painted screens from the 17th century. We walked past the Grand Chambers, where the feudal lords met, and also past the Shogun's living quarters which had life-size models of his many wives or concubines sitting in the room. Lastly the gardens and ponds around the palace were just as relaxing as those we saw at the Golden Pavilion.

Left to Right: Noriko reading Nijo Castle map,
Entrance gate, One of the many buildings on palace grounds

Outside Nijo's main palace halls

Beautiful wood carvings above the entrances

One of many rock ponds around Nijo

It was getting late in the afternoon and close to getting dark outside, so we made a quick stop to the last shrine we'd be seeing that day. We entered through a bright orange colored entrance gate. Inside the grounds a bunch of stands selling food and souvenirs were closing down for the day. We caught a vendor selling waffles right before they shut down and tried a sweet bean filled waffle for 100 yen (good deal!).

There were a few buildings spread throughout the shrine's boundaries. One of them in the center was a large fortune stand illuminated by a myriad of lanterns hanging from its roof. Noriko told us that they had fortunes for each person's year/birthday.

Left to Right: Entrance to shrine, Flame in front of local restaurant,
Fortune stand inside shrine grounds

We left the shrine to go look for dinner. On the way we stopped by a second hand kimono shop. They had a rack of used kimonos for $100, which was a pretty good deal. Inside they had even more well preserved kimonos but those were priced up to $300. I held off on getting a kimono, even though I really wanted one, and bought a few scraps of real silk instead.

We also had some time to walk through Gion, which is an area well known for geishas and maikos. We were strolling through one of its streets lined with restaurants when we noticed a crowd of people. As soon as we got closer we (unbelieveably) saw a geisha emerge with two other women following behind her. We were so excited that we tried to follow her and get a picture. Unfortunately she slipped into one of the buildings before we could, but at least we can say that we got a glimpse of a real live geisha. It was one of those right place, right time kind of moments.

After leaving Gion we entered a busier area of Kyoto full of high-rise buildings and bright lights, reminding me of Tokyo. Since we were in the vicinity a few people from our group suggested we go to a restaurant they had tried out the other day when visiting the arcades. With a little luck we found the same restaurant and walked in to be sat at a table right away. The waitresses brought out a small bowl of what appeared to be appetizers and then we ordered our meals. I chose to get a plate of kabobs with fried shrimp, oyster, pepper, and quail egg wrapped in bacon. I, needless to say, loved the meal and got to try quail for the first time.

Dinner with some miscommunications

Everything went smoothly until our check came. The total had somehow come to 8,300 yen ($83) when we were expecting it to be around $50. We were thankful Noriko was with us because she inquired as to the extra charges. We found out that the appetizers, which we assumed were complimentary, were put on our bill as well as the water refills we asked for, which came in a special jug. The waiter told Noriko that because she was a native he expected that she would know the appetizers were a separate fee. Nevertheless the situation was resolved and we all got a little taste of cultural miscommunications.

Before heading in for the night we walked through the busy city streets to check out more souvenir shops. I was happy when we found a store with $50 cotton kimonos on display. Even though it wasn't the real thing I didn't mind bringing back a casual wear kimono. It was a nice ending to our last full day in Japan.