Travelling in Japan with my Mum and Aunt!

For the last week I have been traveling around Japan with my Mum and aunt. We had a lovely trip and they were surprised at how good the Shinkansen was.
On the first day we went to Kyoto, when we arrived we went for a walk around Gion area trying different foods from the shops and stalls. I really liked the grilled mochi with the sticky soy sauce but it is very different to Irish food and my aunt didn't like the texture.

Then we walked to Yasaka Shrine and through Maruyama Park and the weather was beautiful so we enjoyed walking around. We followed the park to Chionin Temple and walked around it. I thought that Kyoto was very easy to navigate around. The temple was very interesting and I really liked the 'Nightingale Floorboards' that squeak so the Shogun could know if intruders were coming.

After the temple we went to a Tea house called En and we learned about Tea Ceremony and got to make to make green tea. I thought it was very interesting and such a relaxing process and I hope to be able to join Tea Ceremony lessons in Gotemba. Below is a photo of some of the utensils used in tea ceremony.

On the second day we went to Nijo-jo which was such a beautiful castle and the paintings on the screen doors inside were spectacular but we couldn't photograph them. The grounds were amazing as well, I really liked the landscape garden and the views from the top were stunning.

Later that day we had booked a tour of the Imperial Palace and it was very interesting to listen to the guide explain about the architecture and the history of the buildings. I liked the striking colours of the corridors in this newer part and learned that this colour is used in Japan to ward off evil spirits.

The roofs were made of strips of ceder bark layered on top of each other which is used because its water resistant and keeps the buildings cool in summer. The grounds around the Palace were beautiful and so vast, I was also excited to see some Sakura out already.

That evening we went to Gion Corner and we watched Geisha performances, music and plays. It was very interesting and enjoyable to see so many aspects of Japanese culture.

I really liked the Kyogen (Ancient Comic Play), it was really funny and the actors were brilliant.

On the third day we went to Kinkakuji which was very beautiful reflecting in the lake and the park was peaceful to walk around.

Afterwards, we went to Fushimi Inari Shrine which is somewhere I have wanted to visit for a while. It was very dizzying to walk around but I really liked the affect.

The next morning we headed off to Osaka but it rained all day so it made it hard to get around. This meant that we only went to the Umeda Sky Building and then found an Italian Izakaya which served the most delicious food.