Our morning began with an incredible Japanese breakfast at our ryokan.
For our first day in Kyoto we initially decided to have a relaxed day, staying local to our hotel and seeing the nearby Imperial Palace.
The palace grounds were beautiful, and as we wandered the grounds taking pictures and admiring the scenery, we were struck with an idea: why not see Kiyomizu-dera temple? After all it was only about 3 miles away. So we decided to tour of local shrines and temples on the way as we walked to Kiyomizu-dera.
As amazing as the famous destination was, the path there was even better. We saw Heian shrine, and strolled through the shrines and scenery of Maruyama park, which was the highlight of the day. We stopped for lunch at Isobe, a small restaurant serving delicious lunch sets, which we agreed somehow tasted “healing.”
After lunch, we continued to Kiyomizu-dera, taking in the sites, shops, and crowds.
We then decided (rationally) that since Kyoto Station was only 2 miles away, we should walk there to explore the station… easy, right?
We stopped at a lovely park on the way to get some rest.
We then explored Kyoto station and charged up with an afternoon tea and snacks – the perfect appetizer for our later okonomiyaki dinner! Before heading back to the hotel for a much needed rest. We’re telling ourselves that we’ll walk less tomorrow…..
