Exploring Kyoto - And maybe shopping?!?

Our first full day in Kyoto started a little slow. Once again, Gemini had come through for me and found us a little tour that included some stops and stores for some local items we were interested in 🤔. While Gemini had us showing up at a local coffee spot about a 20 minute walk away at 9 am… we decided to slow roll it and showed up about 9:50 am instead - Unlike Tayor’s Garmin, I did not get fussed at by my electronics for not doing what it told me to!

On our walk, Denise had been pretty specific, she needed three things before we started our little treasure hunt. She needed coffee (check), she was going to need a bathroom (glad I have the Flush app, yes there is such a thing!) and she was going to need food as the coffee place did not have food. In fact, the coffee place was fantastic and quite quaint. I think they were just serving coffee out of their garage, at least that’s what it looked like. The latte was the best I’ve had, they don’t really do to go or have any seats, so people just hung out in the parking lot, in the sun enjoying their coffees. First requirement, was a resounding success.

Now, onto the Flush app and requirement number 2, thanks coffee! I found this app before we left that locates public restrooms around the world for when you’ve got to go! We’ve already used it a couple times and really downloaded it as I wanted to try one of those glass public restrooms in Tokyo - where people outside can see into the restroom until you close the door - then you hope the frosting mechanism works while you do your business! Well, with Flush app, I was two for two, as there was a nice little public park and restroom around the corner from the coffee house, and Publix restrooms here, for the most part, are nicer than a lot of private restrooms I’ve seen in the states!

So, batting 1.000, and feeling pretty confident, now I just needed a little food for the missus to really start the day off right. Once again, I turned to my buddy Gemini, and wouldn’t you know, about 3 houses down from the park, on the road over from the coffee garage, was a little Japanese bakery known for their German pastries 🤷‍♂️. Again, without knowing it was there, it would have been easy to pass right on by, but with Google Maps and Gemini, we found it. Now, I couldn’t really tell you what anything in there was - other than the croissants and an apple pastry, but we got 4 or 5 to try, and every one of them was a delight! Baseball Hall of Fame, here I come, well at least if we just count my at bats this morning!

Now that the little lady was in a happy place, off we trotted to see if we could find our little trinkets we were looking to purchase. Number 1 on our list, a Matcha starter set for Tay. Now, the tea house we were aiming for is what led us so for away from our hotel to begin with. They are several hundred years old, they sell starter sets (key for Denise) and they have a tea house where you can sit down and enjoy their wares…. The shop, like most things here, was immaculate and we received top notch service. We were guided right to what we needed and then sat down for a little tea - and Tay, Denise wasn’t too impressed with her Matcha (or Spinach tea as she calls it!). Now, I will state, Tay informed us she prefers hers with a bunch of crap in it (my word, not hers), so there is still a chance that Denise will stay Denise and not turn into Popeye!

On to the second reason we were out and about shopping in Kyoto - knives!!! Specifically kitchen knives. I would really like some hard Japanese steel for my kitchen knives. I like the ones we have, but they are so soft, you end up having to sharpen them all the time! So, Gemini helped me identify three sites, Aritsugu Knives (which has been around since 1560!) in Nishiki Market, Musashi Knives (Modern day knife and kitchen store) and Yoshisada Knives (a blacksmith family that had been around for over 300 years and their 10th generation knife maker was awarded an award from the Emperor in the early 2000’s).

With that we were off through Nishiki market first to Aritsugu. They are really well known and really really expensive…. 😢. So, while we browsed, we didn’t stay long and instead enjoyed Nishiki market walking through the street vendors stalls and shops and eateries. It’s amazing how many restaurants they have here, and most only sit between 5 and 20 guests!

We found a great little burger joint, but instead of getting the burger, we got 3 kinds of Wagyu beef, including some A5 Sirloin - and I’ll attest, it was worth it! It really is like meat butter and just melts in your mouth.

From there, we were back off enjoying the day, the sunshine, the shrines and temples and just walking around Kyoto. We went through two Musashi stores, where they actually let you cut radishes with the knives to find the right fit for you! There are just so many neat options and they are all so sharp! You’ll have to visit me for a meal to find out if I found a match!

We also made it all the way down to Yoshisada’s store as well. It was about 35 minutes from the market, so we took the train. Once you do it a couple of times, it really does become quite easy and second nature. This store was much much quieter with a little old lady working the counter. She came out to help us and started showing us the knives. She used broken English but between gestures and the few words we all knew, we got a surprising amount of information, including the award from the emperor. They even make custom order knives for chefs and are geared more for making knives for chefs. Needless to say, once again, a lot of things I liked, but you’ll only know if you make a stop by the kitchen! Or you see me with a missing finger…Read more