Kyoto - Day 1

Kyoto! I don't know how anyone couldn't love this city. You can't turn a corner without bumping into a temple or shrine, there are so many beautiful places to visit. I've been twice now, the first time (parts One, Two, and Three) was when Ali came to visit, and this trip with Mia was the second.

I was very worried about heading so far south in August. Ali visited in February when Tokyo was hit by the biggest snow storm in decades, but summer is a whole different issue. I had heard enough horror stories about the temperatures and humidity down there in the summer, I repeatedly warned Mia about how bad it was going to be, "It'll be really hot, like REALLY hot. We're going to melt." only to be pleasantly surprised. It was hot, of course, but not unbearable. We didn't even have to slow down too much and kept up our average of 10km walking per day (!!!).

Fushimi Inari Taisha was just as stunning as the first time I visited. It was a little busier but not by much, it was a slightly rainy day so that perhaps worked in our favour.

We met a lot of cats this time. I don't remember seeing any when I visited with Ali but on this visit, once we were a certain way up the mountain, we bumped into loads...

If a student handed me an essay with this sentence I would probably just draw a squiggly red line under the whole thing.

Wandering around Gion was definitely better in the summer. The streets were more crowded but there was a lot more going on in general not just more tourists. We even managed to see the cultural show that's put on at Gion Corner to give tourists a taste of some of the more famous Japanese traditions like a tea ceremony and flower arranging.