Around the Neighbourhood

The area where we stayed in Kyoto, the northern part of Higashiyama, is chockfull of temples, museums, little corner restaurants and traditional houses. (There’s also a giant eyesore called the Westin Miyaki hotel but that was out of our view so we just ignored it.)

There was always something to do in our neighbourhood which was great since it’s not always easy to plan a full day with a baby. But I think we did alright. Here are a few of the highlights from the past few days:

We went biking up to Kamigamo shrine (which isn’t actually in our neighbourhood anymore but that’s where the bike ride started..)

The temple had a big market going on with lots of craft stalls and food. There was even a horse!

We saw a wedding party at the shrine as well. The couple didn’t look too happy but maybe that was just the stress of taking all those pictures.

On top of the gate that leads to Nanzen-ji. Small Paw gives Fa a lesson in facial anatomy.

Heian shrine, one of my favourites and right down the street from us.

Now for something completely different: how cool are these gas stations? The pumps are in the ceiling.

Taking a stroll along one of the fancy traditional streets at night means you get to peek in to the restaurants, great fun.

During the light festival earlier this month, all the temples in our area were open at night for viewings giving them a whole different look and feeling.

There are lots of cute little cafés and restaurants dotted around. You often have to know where to look though or really keep your eyes open because otherwise you’ll miss half of them.

The river has several bridges but for greater convenience there are little pedestrian crossings built ever so often. Fun and useful!

In the past couple of days the cherry trees have started blossoming and with it the number of tourists in the city have suddenly tripled. (Point in case, we wanted to go to the tiny and very casual restaurant on our corner tonight for a good-bye dinner and there was a wait of 30 minutes! Last time we went, a couple of weeks ago, we could walk right in.)

Oh, and in case you’re wondering how Small Paw’s advances in walking are going, here’s a little video for you:




2 Responses to “Around the Neighbourhood”

  1. Curt says:

    Tremendous video: she’s Oma alright!

  2. kuru says:

    I agree with Curt. fantastic video. And she even looks like Oma Greta…
    And oh those beautiful canals and restaurants!
    but hat is this about you feeding Hannah boiled dog?

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