京都のパート1 (Kyoto Part 1)
Guess who got sick on the plane right to Kansai! And guess who got REALLY sick by the time we made out way to Kyoto the next day? Yeah, so I pretty much spent our entire first trip to Kyoto holding my head as a jackhammer went off in my brain, but that didn't stop me from going around with MaryAnn and mom and seeing what we could. All of the attractions close at 5pm in Kyoto, so we didn't have a lot of time to actually see everything (and trust me, there is LOTS to see in that city). But we did get to hit up one nice spot.
By the way, the Kyoto JR station is like an attraction in its own right. Definitely the nicest train station I've seen EVER. Train station designers: take notes. This is how its done, son.
The first stop on our tour of Kyoto was Ginkakuji, the Temple of the Silver Pavillion. It was once the retirement villa of a Shogun who later went on to become a Buddhist monk. I'm pretty convinced that Japanese Shoguns knew how to retire in style. Old American people go to Key West or something...these dudes build ornate cribs, plan to cover them in silver foil, and make sure the gardens are looking right. Anyway, the Shogans grandfather was the one who built the more famous Kinkakuji (more on that one later), and the plans were to cover Ginkakuji in silver instead of gold but those never came to fruition. After the dude died, the place became a Buddhist temple. Right now its undergoing massive renovation, but it's still a damn nice place to look at and super calm. Fitting for a Buddhist indeed.
Speaking of Kinkakuji, we tried going there as well (it's on the opposite side of the city), but my headache had gotten so bad by that point that MaryAnn and mom took it upon themselves to get me some medicine. By the time they got that and made it over to the temple, the place was closed. Denied! Then we tried heading over to Gion, home of the few remaining geisha's and maiko's, but on the bus ride over I had to pee like a motherfucker and we jumped off with the quickness. After peeing for an eternity in McDonalds, we walked around whatever neighborhood we were in until we came across some place to eat. I think they served nothing but curry. Good thing I was in a curry scarfing down mood at the time.
Afterwards it was back to our hostel in Osaka. But not before saying good night to the gigantic rocket ship on top of Kyoto Tower. Good night, gigantic rocket ship! See you soon!!!!