Another travel day. I checked out of my hotel in Osaka and took a quick shinkansen to Kyoto. Before I left I picked up a bit of lunch from one of the bento places at the train station - a huge box of packed full of unagi, sweet rice, shredded scrambled egg, and japanese pickles. It was by far the biggest meal I’ve had since I’ve got here, fairly cheap, and very very tasty, but then again I really like unagi.
Kyoto station is a huge modern place that serves both the regular lines and the shinkansen. The Hotel Gravia Kyoto where I’m staying at is attached right to the station which made getting to it easy - a bit too easy since as I write this I’m hanging out in a food court in front of Mister Donut trying to figure out where I’m going to go after I drop off my bags since its way to early for me to check in. Location-wise its perfect, besides being right next to the train station allowing for some easy day-trips its also close to the Kyoto visitor information center and a big post office. Why does it matter if I’m close to a post office you ask? Post offices are the most reliable place here in japan to find an ATM guaranteed to be linked to the american system. They are pretty easy to spot, even the small ones, since they always have a particular symbol out front that looks like a red capitol T with a line over the top. Even if they are closed you usually can still get to the ATM section.
After checking in my bags and picking up an english map from the local tourist information center I wandered over to the eastern part of Kyoto where the closest section of temples where. In the 3-4 hours I spent hoofing it around I only got to see a fraction of what there was to see before I started running into closing time. Well, that and the heat was getting to me. It was another 80+ day and I was just dripping. I managed to hit Sanjusangen-do Temple, Kiyomizudera Temple, Yasaka Shrine, and Chion-in Temple as well as wander though some very scenic small side streets, hang out in Maruyama park, and make frequent stops at drink vending machines.
My room at the Gravia isn’t quite as nice as my last hotel, but its still really nice and does have some nice perks such as free internet access that the New Otani didn’t.
After checking in I wandered around and found a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant that sat maybe 12. It was the first one so far I’ve been to where you had to take off your shoes and sit on the floor (on a cushion, of course). Often when you go to places they bring you a little appetizer while you wait for for your food, here they brought me a couple of small balls of konnyaku in a mustard sauce that was unexpectedly tasty. I then had a mix of tempura and some yakitori. I have yet to find Japanese food I haven’t liked, although I have yet to push the envelope that much in the seafood direction.