Wednesday May 16 - a very auspicious day

We had another lovely day of exploration today..but first was greeted by many birthday wishes which felt very special, and sent them to Liv who shares my birthday....a good start. We set off first to the Kyoto Symphony Hall - an easy subway ride, and got tickets for a concert on Sunday afternoon - playing Bernstein and Shostakovich!! What fun! And the hall is right beside the Botanical Gardens, so we plan to visit that before the concert. After that was successfully accomplished, we got the subway back to the Nishiki covered food market...that was great as those sort of markets always are...wandered there for a bit, then that led into more corridors of pedestrian shops...good for wandering...we all bought a Japanese style robe of lovely colours and designs, and had a break at a funny little restaurant up a narrow steep stairway..we think it is probably more a night time bar place, but it had a nice curry smell and one girl serving who made 3 omelettes one by one, and served some curry and it gave us a chance for a nice sit down and break. Then we went on a mission for C and J who were looking for a shop that sold special cards for a game their grandson plays...and Japanese ones would be very special...shop called Yellow Submarine and amazingly we found it with the help of smartphones..again up 4 storeys, and it did have the cards! Then on to a visit to Blue Bottle (where Amr was remembered), the bag shop for Carole (I think he was remembered there too!) then Carole, John and I took a bus back from there, while amr stayed to look round another department store and would get the subway back...

We got seats in the bus before it became like a sardine packed area, but the ride took ages in all the traffic and lights, and Amr actually ended up back before me! We have decided that the trains are more pleasant form of transport if they go to where you need to go..another problem with the buses is that you just hop on by the back door, but you have to leave by the front door and pay (either cash, or tap your card) and if you find yourself squashed near the back when you get to your stop you have to push through people to get to the front...fine if we are going back to Kyoto station where the bus terminates and everyone gets off...we live and learn.

Tomorrow we are going to a place a 2 hours train journey away..I can’t possibly now remember the name, but 2 people independently told Amr it was a must see...a beautiful area with a long isthmus...will describe tomorrow. On the way to dinner we stopped at the station to get train tickets for this, and thankfully we did, as the process took ages...we had a trainee at the counter..very sweet, but somehow getting these tickets was a huge procedure, and we have all ended up with 5 pieces of ticket each for seat reservation, fare ticket each way, with connection on return journey...etc.etc. After that experience, we went to the yakitori place Amr and I had been to last week (the place of the chicken livers) and again had a great meal..and again a success with C and J! Altogether another great day!Leia mais