For Silver Week, I went to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka with two other ALTs. It was really excited to learn about the history and culture of Japan.
Day 1: Kyoto
On the first day, we visited the Imperial Palace, but it ended up being closed due to the holiday. Then, we went to the Philosopher's Walk, which is a trail that follows a canal. Many shrines and temples line this walk. We visited Ginkaku-ji, Honen-ji, Eikan-do, and Nanzen-ji. Also, along the way, we found a high school that was having a school festival. We wondered through the school and found the English club. I can't believe how big school festivals are. There were so many people there. After this, we went to Heian-jingu. I really liked it here even though there were many people. The bright colors of the buildings were beautiful, and there was also an amazing garden.
Day 2: Kyoto
The next day, we visited Kinkaku-ji. I really didn't like this temple because I thought it was gaudy and there were way too many people there for it to be enjoyable. After this, we went to Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine and then Nijo-jo. Nijo Castle was really cool. The floor squeaks when you walk on it, so it warns for invaders. In the afternoon, we went to Gion. There was a really nice park there called Maruyama. We got to take pictures of Geisha too. As the sun was setting, I got some really good pictures of Kyoto and Yasaka Pagoda. There was also a massive Buddha there called Ryozen Kannon, which commemorated those who died in WWII.
Day 3: Fushimi Inari and Nara
On day three, we took a train to Fushimi Inari-taisha. This shrine has thousands and thousands of torii. It seemed like a massive maze. After this, we went to Nara. The deer in Nara smell terrible, are really dirty, and look unhealthy. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing the deer. Todai-ji Temple is amazing though. It's huge. It's really hard to describe other than it's absolutely massive.
Day 4-5
We spent day four and five in Osaka. We mostly spent our time here shopping, and we met up with some other ALTs. We went to a restaurant though, and we ordered Okonomiyaki. It was my first time eating it. Eating was really fun because we got to cook it ourselves. I'm pretty sure the waiter thought we were crazy because we kept mixing everything up instead of leaving it in a patty. He kept coming over and started helping us cook it....haha. On day five, we visited Osaka Castle. I was kind of disappointed though because it was more like a museum than a castle. Much of the castle had been burned in the past, so what we saw was almost entirely restoration work. The interior was very modern. The view of Osaka from the top of the castle was amazing though.
Ryozen Kannon in Kyoto
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