Kyoto

(continuation of Maria's trip)

Maria stayed in Kyoto for five days, two of which were with me. We walked around Gion (district with many exclusive teahouses and restaurants where geisha typically entertain guests) quite a bit, shopped, ate a kaiseki obento (Kyoto-style lunch), and hiked through the Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Gion was really fun to walk around because it’s a cute little neighborhood. It was difficult to take pictures at night, but we tried.




Here were some funny things we saw while shopping.
outside KFC:

The kaiseki obento was mostly all tofu called yuba in different forms. It was delicious, and I would eat it again, but I probably won’t crave it like I do with tacos and sandwiches. The tempura was my favorite part. This is a picture of the adorable restaurant we picked.



Here’s what we ate.



cutest bowls ever! One is filled with rice, another with miso soup, and the third with a rice dough ball filled with meat.
dessert.... sour oranges

The Fushimi Inari Shrine is by far my favorite place in Japan. It’s a very unique shrine where you can hike all day long on a path lined with torii gates. I visited this shrine before with my parents but we weren’t able to hike very far up the mountain. Maria and I nearly made it to the top, but had to turn back early so I could catch the bus home. Anyways, neither of us could stop taking pictures because everywhere we looked was peaceful and beautiful. It had been raining just before we got there, so everything was wet.