Japan Trip, Day 9

breakfast – 23 jun 2008

Yet again I was up before 5:30. I hadn’t gone to the toilet the night before, but had to pee, so I had to wake Rob to ask him where it was. Chloe woke while I was finishing up blogging and photo editing. She asked me to hold her, and we both ended up falling asleep until almost 8am! We had to rush around to get ready for the day and then ran out to get coffee and muffins for breakfast. We headed back to the inn with about fifteen minutes to spare, but my friend Toshie and her son Hajime were already there. Yikes!

Over twenty years ago, I spent a couple weeks at Toshie’s house when I came with other kids from my high school on an exchange. Our schools were “sisters” and each year we’d trade-off hosting kids from the other school. It was so nice to see Toshie after so many years. Her English is incredible and she has a good sense of adventure.

gates – 23 jun 2008

We walked down to the station to take care of our Japan Rail passes. Then we got bus tickets and local train tickets for the day. We took the train down to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Here, businessmen donate torii (the red-orange gates) for good fortune. I remember being quite impressed with the paths when I went before. Chloe and Camille seemed equally impressed. Hajime was quite the active boy, skipping ahead and exploring everything. The kids all like seeing the cats, turtles and fish.

hajime – 23 jun 2008

We went back to the train station and to the train one stop to the next sight, the Tofuku-ji. I enjoyed crossing the covered bridge and seeing the gardens. The girls were starting to get tired and hungry; Camille felt a bit feverish. I ached too much to be able to carry Chloe. We walked to the bus stop and headed towards the center of town. We decided to go to the next sight, then look for food. We went into the gardens on Sanjusangendo and looked around, then went into the main building to see the 1000 statues. No photos are allowed, but it is very impressive. Chloe wanted to know what each of the big guardian statues were (only 28 of those).

camille – 23 jun 2008

From there, we went to find some food. Toshie found a noodle house where the girls and I had tofu and rice and rob had a soba dish. It was perfect. We were relaxed and full when we left.

with Toshie – 23 jun 2008

We got on the bus again and headed to Kiyomizu-dera. The walk up the hill was steep and tiring for the girls. The view from the top was incredible! Chloe was wowed by it. Chloe made Rob promise that we would go to the Kyoto Tower before we leave Kyoto.

Kiyomizu-dera – 23 jun 2008

Camille was exhausted by this point and started crying when she thought we were going to walk up further. Once I explained that we were on the path to go back down to the bus, she was greatly relieved. We decided that we were done for the day. Toshie bought a round of ice creams for the kids on the way down, and that helped.

kyoto – 23 jun 2008

The bus back to the station was incredibly crowded. I don’t know how it could hold so many people. At the station, we said goodbye to Toshie and Hajime, who were going to get the train back home. We walked over to the inn. I was very feverish and very tired and went right to sleep, even though it was before 5pm. Camille read. Rob and Chloe tried their hand at playing go. After Chloe crashed, Rob went out for a walk and found some takeout food that he could have for dinner. I didn’t eat; I don’t think the kids ate dinner either. I sure hope that we all feel better soon!

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