Well after a good nights sleep I was feeling better although very washed out. Notwithstanding this we set off on the trains to the Vermillion Shrine, Fushini- Inari Taisha. Well, when we got off the train we couldn’t believe the hoards and hoards of people, so much so that just to get off the train station you had to queue. But what do you do? So we joined the masses and headed on up the through the endless shrine gates…most impressive but so many people made it difficult to capture the serene nature of it. In fact taking a photo was a challenge. It is hot and humid here – 33 deg and very sweaty. So after that we decided to come home for lunch and a bit of a break. Rose was very concerned about my health at this point.
We had a break back at our tinsy weensy apartment for an hour and then we set off for the Nijo-jo. A very impressive castle and palace complex. We were going to head off after this for the Imperial Palace but we totally under-estimated the size of this site. Touring time 2 hrs we read…?? And it was so hot and so humid that the sweat was really pouring off me and I was losing energy fast. So we walked back to a beer bar that Rose’s friend Matt had recommended and Rose enjoyed a few beers. Then home for a short time and and then we went off to another place recommended by Matt for a Ramen meal. This was the first meal I’d had for 24 hrs and it was truly delicious. Now I’m tentatively having a glass of wine…so everything is looking up.
This is short and sweet but I think the overriding impression is that Kyoto is a great city. We are staying in a very cool area full of wine bars, beer bars and restaurants (at least half of which are french) and cafes, boulangeries, patisseries Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be back up to full speed to enjoy it all.