kyoto

it was a two hour ride on the shinkansen (bullet train) from tokyo to kyoto
we did more shopping in the morning so we didn't arrive until evening, so we just checked into the ryokan and went to bed

yesterday we went to nijo castle then over to the imperial park, where the old palace is located from when kyoto was the capitol of japan
then we went to a manga museum, which literally had walls top to bottom full of magazines and books
after that we walked over near the river where there is a big high street full of shops
we found a good noodle place for dinner, where I had a big bowl of kitsune (soba noodles with tofu and broth) then we went and got coffees for dessert (white chocolate mocha, yum!!)

today we went over to the gion district to see the kiyomizu temple and ryozen kannon
there were so many different shrines and deities, it was really amazing
we wandered around the whole area looking into shops and getting lost
then while we were near gion corner where all the theaters are, we got to see some geisha girls!
after that we headed back towards town, stopping to get coffee to warm up on the way
then while looking for a place for dinner, we wandered into takashimaya department store, where we spent over an hour!
they have a giant food hall in the lower level, with everything from sweets and cakes to fresh sushi, rice, salad... they had it all!
tomorrow hiroshima :D