Hello!

Our day in Kyoto was off to a great start, with full bellies and the sun shining we headed off on our self-made city tour. The first stop was the bamboo forest via the train station which was an iconic building in itself! With 12 floors, government buildings, a hotel and shopping mall, it was a bit more than just a train station! It was also very modern in its architecture. We went up to the top which was a sky garden looking over Kyoto before heading off to the North West.

As we arrived with many other tourists we followed the signs and soon came to a forest made from bamboo. It wasn't very big and we couldn't go in to the trees but we could both say we had never seen a whole forest made of bamboo until now! We continued along the path out of the forest coming to a large river and eventually a little village to catch the train. After a little drink/ snack break we hopped back on the train to our second stop of the day - The Gold Pavilion.

The Pavilion was indeed made entirely of gold and was a beautiful sight especially as it reflected off the surrounding lake. We enjoyed taking pictures before walking a little closer and around the gardens.

Then it was back on the bus to the subway as we headed towards the Imperial Palace. On the way we grabbed a few picnic bits and on arrival in the grounds we sat on a bench and ate our lunch. We went into the palace to have a look around but in all honesty it pretty empty and just a load of buildings.

Just as it started to rain heavily we made it to the subway and went to the Nishiki Market to end self guided our tour of the city. We walked through many small stalls offering endless numbers of fish and octopus along with other unrecognisable delicacies.

We jumped back in the bus and literally as we got off the heavens opened and the biggest rain drops you have ever seen fell from the sky. We had no choice but to weather the storm for our 100m walk back to the Kyoto Inn. Tom ran bare foot to avoid slipping and by the the time Tara reached the hotel she was drenched and in fits of laughter! Soaked to the bone we both dried off with towels waiting for us on arrival by the staff before having a chill for an hour or so.

For dinner we ventured out of Gion to downtown Kyoto taking the bus to a beautiful main street lined with Japanese lanterns. We aimed towards a restaurant recommend in Tara's guidebook but on arrival we found a long queue to get in. We decided to return to an Italian restaurant that had drawn us in as we walked past a few moments before. We had a really good meal before getting the bus back home and packing up to leave the morning after. We ended our day with another Love Island!

Today, Saturday 8th July, we are heading to Hakone-Yumoto, the home of Mt Fuji! We have just boarded the Shinkansen Kodama Bullet Train to Odawara and on the way hope to catch a glimpse of Mt Fuji in the distance.

Bye for now,

T&T x