Japan trip day 13: Kyoto (July 28th, 2009)

(Tuesday)

We had a traditional Japanese breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast included many small portions in multiple ceramic bowls. It included several fish, pickled vegetables, soup, dried sardines, and grapefruit and spinach drink. I liked the drink, but Shirley abhorred it. The dried sardine was almost too much for me.

Dorit and I decided to extend our stay in Kyoto until the end of the trip instead of moving to Osaka on Friday. We felt that it will be easier for Rena to stay longer in the same hotel instead of moving. The hotel was able to extend our stay in the room by 3 days, but then we had to move to two adjacent (not connected rooms) for the last two days of our stay.

We decided to miss the scheduled guided tour in the Kyoto imperial palace because one of the guide books said that visiting Nijo-jo is more interesting, and you can set the pace yourself. We took the bus to Nijo-jo castle. When we arrived the castle was closed. I missed that small print in the guide book that mentioned that it is closed on Tuesdays. Too bad.

We decided to visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum (IMM) instead. While we were planning to leave Nijo-jo, I noticed an elderly person who tried to get his picture with the castle background while holding the picture in front of him. I asked Dan to help this person. We started talking, and he volunteered to show us the way to IMM. He told me that he is 60 years old, and he recently retired from the Kyoto University, where he worked as an accountant since he graduated from school. He also told me that he did not speak English at all since he graduated from school. His English was pretty good for a person who did not speak the language for more than 30 years. He also said that he has 3 children. When we arrived to IMM I gave him a postcard as a token of appreciation.

We bought one-day passes for the museum, and then we looked for a place to eat lunch. The museum did not have a cafeteria, so we got out and looked for a restaurant in the basements of the nearby buildings around the intersection. We had no luck. We then walked along a main street, and then we followed a narrow street into a dense neighborhood of garages and small shops. We eventually found a restaurant that served us lunch around a low table.

We returned to the manga museum, and we spent the next few hours there. Dan, Shirley, and I chose a few manga volumes and read them in the courtyard. Dorit could not find suitable manga books for Rena, so she took her to other parts of the museum. We left the museum close to 6 pm.