From the palace to pokemon to nowhere

In the morning and early afternoon, we visited the palaces of the shogun and the emperor that were in use from 1603 to 1853. The start and end of the Edo period, where the Emperor was a godlike figurehead and the shogun, a dictatorial head of government. The shogun had all the power and ran the show.
The two palaces have similar architecture with white walls in dark wood frames and elaborate wooden entrances. Inside the main difference is that the Shogun palace used gold paint, and the Emperor did not . The paintings are quite pleasant but have a niave touch, making them far less impressive than European contemporaries. However, the simplicity fits well with the simple architecture. One area where the emperor did have the edge was his garden, which was far more elegant than that of the shogun.

Late afternoon, we do a handbrake turn and head for the Kyoto Pokémon shop. Heaven for kids, baffling for adults. At least it's a source for presents for some upcoming birthdays.

After that another failed attempt to book a restaurant, so we decide to eat at "home". For once, google Maps is accurate, and we find a large hall selling all sorts of high-end sushi 🍣, and other foods . For $70, we have a feast for 7. ( 6 + Grandpa).

To get home, we try but fail to take the metro because we can't work out which station to go to, not even if we should take the blue line or the green line. Even if we had, I suspect we would have been incapable of buying the tickets. There are maps and explanations in English, but they could be written in marshan because they are completely unintelligible.Read more