We only had 2 days in Kyoto together, before Adam, Stephanie, and Kenny had to leave. Unfortunately, they had to work Monday morning! That meant that we had to see as much as possible during that time!

One of the first sites we saw was the Golden Pavillion, Kinkakuji, in the northwest part of town. For some reason, we'd decided to take the bus, like the Lonely Planet suggested. What they failed to mention was that it would take over an hour! By the time we got there, we were all feeling a bit nauseous.

Once we got to see the temple though, I think we all felt better. I thought it would be a bit bigger than it was, but it was still very beautiful. We had a nice walk around the garden, and seeing the women dressed in traditional kimono made it seem like we'd stepped back in time 50 years.

In the evening, we checked out Pontocho Alleyway, a small alley along the river with expensive restaurants, tea houses, and entertainment. The street was just gorgeous, I think mostly because it was so narrow and because all the buildings were traditional Japanese architecture. One of the most popular Jazz bars is Hello Dolly, so we stopped in because the boys love jazz. It was nice, but quite expensive. I wouldn't go again.

Saturday, we had to wake up early, as we wanted to do a walking tour around the eastern part of town. We started at the Kiyomizudera Temple, famous for the large wooden deck. It's situated high in the mountains, surrounded by a lovely forest- full of chirpping insects!

We walked down a few small alleys in the Higashiyama area, including apparently "one of the most beautiful streets in the world." I wouldn't go that far, although the wooden buildings and bamboo screens set the mood. We quickly walked through a shrine near the main road of Gion, the old geisha district, and lunched there.

In the afternoon, we slowly made our way north to Ginkakuji, the silver pavillion. Like the golden temple, I figured this would be silver, however, I think they just meant that the Zen rock garden looked silver when seen from the surrounding forest paths. By this point, all four of us were very tired, hot, sweaty, and on the verge of getting cranky. Did I mention yet that the weather was between 90-100 every day? Everyone except for Kenny, that is. I think he found the strength to power through by picking up various snacks along the way, such as a meat filled pastry, and a green tea cream puff. I should have followed his lead!

In the evening, Adam, Stephanie, and I took a cooking class with a lovely lady, Emi, while Kenny zoomed all over on his bike. Stephanie and I had found the program online, and we knew it would be a blast. The class lasted about three hours, and we made four dishes. From best to worse, we made grilled makarel, sesame seed dressed vegetable salad, tempura, and jellied vegetables. Emi told us that it was a traditional summertime Japanese dinner, though we could have all done without the strange jellied vegetables!

At the end of our time in Kyoto, we were all completey exhausted. We must have biked over 20 km and walked until our feet felt like lead. Everyone loved Kyoto, and we were all sad to be leaving such a beautiful, historic city.