Day 2 in Kyoto

Fushimi (10,000 Gates)

Today I went to the Fushimi shrine. It is known for having over 10,000 gates! The first structures here were built in the 8^th century. It takes 2 hours to walk through all the gates! But we only walked through about 2,000 gates. Some of the gates were stone and some were painted orange and if you put a small rock on top of a stone gate you will be happy today. So my mom and I got a couple rocks and placed them on top of a stone gate.

My mom lifting the heavy stone with light thoughts.

A map of Fushimi

Some of the many gates

 

Nishiki Market

After the Fushimi shrine we bought our train tickets for tomorrows journey home. We then headed back to Nishiki market to do some more exploring.  This is such a cool place, everything smells so good.  We decided to have lunch here, trying small things from different places.  The first thing I had was some meat and veggies on a stick, kind of like a shish-kabob.  Then, we found baby octopus on a stick!  It was a little weird to think about it, but when I tried it, it was really good!  The head looks like it has a brain inside, but it is actually a small quail egg.  My Dad really loved it too!  We then found a small place to have some sushi.  I had some with tuna and some with cucumber inside, and some green tea.  It was relaxing and yummy!  We then went back to our favorite dessert place and had deep-fried chocolate!  The market was one of my favorite places in Kyoto and I hope to come back again some day.

My Dad eating octupus

Octupus on a stick!

Me eating octupus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryoan-ji

We had a busy afternoon planned.  Our first stop was Ryoan-ji, which is a rock garden and temple. In Japanese, it is called a kare-sansui, which means “zen garden”. It is part of the Zen branch of Buddhism.  This is another UNSECO World Heritage Site, and it was very neat to see it in person, not just read about it in a book.  The garden is hundreds of years old, and they even have a small replica for blind people to touch and visualize where the rocks are placed.  We relaxed here in the sunshine for a while.

Kinkaku-ji

We then went to the “Temple of the Golden Pavilion”, or kinkaku-ji.  The site is over 600 years old, but in 1950 someone burned the building down, so the main pavilion was rebuilt.  It has real gold on the outside, and it was very shiny in the sun.  People are rarely allowed inside.  We found some stones, where people try to toss coins into a basin and make a wish.  We all tried and missed, but my Mom got one in right away!  She will be lucky today!

Kimono Fashion Show

After the temples, we made a detour to see a silk clothing store, where they make clothes, including kimonos.  They had a kimono fashion show as well.  During the fashion show, 2 geishas came in and they were filming a TV show – I think my sister and I might be on Japanese TV!!  After the show, we went upstairs and we learned that clothes made of silk start from a silkworm.  We watched a lady put cocoons in a bowl of water and spin the silk.  It was very interesting to watch.

 

The silk worm - where it all starts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The life cycle of the silk worm...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cocoon's in water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spinning the silk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watching the entire process...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ninja Dinner

My Mom & Niamh at the Ninja Dinner

We rested at our hotel, and since it was our last night, we decided to celebrate with a special dinner.  We went to a Ninja dinner!  We were greeted by a ninja, who led us through a bunch of tunnels, over a bridge, and then to our table.  It was really neat, and the food was delicious.  After dinner, a ninja came and did a magic show – he was very good and made some ninja money disappear and then land in my sisters hands, except it was double the size it was when it started!  He did some card tricks as well, and we still don’t know how he did the different tricks!  After dinner we walked some and stopped to get some donuts!  This was a great last night in Japan.  Even though I love Japan, I cant wait to get home to my friends!

Our guide (Kiko) with me and Niamh!