The underpass to get to the start of the Philosopher's Walk.
Today we sought breakfast outside of our lodgings, stopping at a coffeehouse, around the corner and down the street. The food options were limited to breakfast sandwiches, but that B(egg)LT really hit the spot. Must’ve been the bacon.
The subway took us to the Philosopher’s Walk, anchored at the southern end by the Nanzen-ji Temple and on the north by the Ginkaku-ji Temple (also known as the Silver Pavilion) and World Heritage Site.
The Nanzen-ji Temple had a feeling of great age – the wood of the buildings is dark with age while the grounds were well tended and the trees large and mature. There is also an aqueduct on the site that looks more Italian/Roman than Japanese.
Cindy, Mike, and Mason shucked their shoes and paid to go into one of the houses on the grounds. Jonathan and I first thought to wait outside, but having spotted a poster with inside shots, I decided we should go in. We weren’t disappointed as there were wonderful gardens and living spaces rather than a temple. As usual, photography was not allowed inside, but was permitted in the gardens.
The underpass to get to the start of the Philosopher's Walk.
A yellow iris on the banks of a stream beside the path.
The gate to the Nanzen-ji Temple.
A rather large lantern on the grounds.
Checking out the gate.
The main temple building.
A brazier where the faithful would leave offerings of incense.
Can you see anything in there? The Moorman-Kings peer into the temple proper.
Cindy and Mason on the veranda of the temple.
The aqueduct looked more Roman/Italian than oriental.
In the house, Mike takes in the view of the garden.
The view of the garden.
Decorative roof tiles.
A moss and stone garden.
More decorative roof tiles.
A shady garden.
Another garden view.
Some school kids posing for a snapshot in front of the gate.
Out in the main grounds of the temple, this rock had lettering carved into it.
Some red berries captured my attention on the way out.
We had to catch the bus to the Imperial Palace quickly as the only English language tour was at 1400. We got there with a few minutes to spare. The docent lead us around the grounds, letting us peer into, but not enter, the buildings.
Mason leads the way to the Imperial Palace in Kyōto's Imperial Park.
The buildings had a fair amount of gold detail work - here the end of a beam is capped with a decorative piece.
More gold detail on buildings.
A gate to the palace. During the entire tour of the palace, I had the feeling that the place was rather lifeless.
The tiger screen from one of the waiting rooms in the palace. This was where the highest muckety-mucks…
… waited on the Emperor's pleasure. There were two other waiting rooms, one decorated with cranes and the other with cherry blossoms. The decor seemed to correlate with one's place on the imperial food chain.
All the trees and shrubs on the grounds are carefully, even exquisitely, tended.
Another gate.
I took this shot to contrast the thatch on the building behind and the tiles on the building in the foreground.
A decorated doorway into the palace.
One of the courtyards.
The courtyard in front of the main building on the grounds.
The east gate.
A raven in the Imperial Gardens - its beak is open because it was rather hot that day.
A sample of the Imperial Gardens.
More decorative gold work.
The tour lasted a bit over an hour and we needed to catch another bus to the last stop of the day the Rokuon-ji Temple (a/k/a Kinkaku-ji) home of the Golden Pavilion (another World Heritage Site). The pavilion is indeed golden – gold foil on lacquer covers the top stories for a striking effect.
We got waylaid by school kids again (we thought this entire experience was rather charming), and later on, I got to interact with some schoolgirls whom I had take a picture of with Mr. Lubin in their midst entering the temple grounds.
Jonathan being carried along by a crowd of school girls.
I'd meet the young lady flashing the peace sign later on in the garden. Yes, they were practicing their English.
The Golden Pavilion reflected in the pond.
A closer view of the pavilion.
This shot was made from the opposite side from the pond.
I asked one of the adults accompanying the group to take a snap on my camera also.
The golden phoenix on top. No Golden Eggs were forthcoming from the Golden Backside.
I believe this was Mason's dinner.
This was definitely mine - unagi (smoked eel) - delicious!
This is either Mike's or Cindy's tempura.
This was my dessert.
Kyōto Tower at night.
Leaving the temple, we decided to return to Kyōto Station to find dinner as we had skipped lunch (!). We were joined in the bus ride / subway ride by an American from Chicago who was in Japan on business in Osaka, but had planned some extra time to visit Kyōto. He and Mason kept up a steady conversation until we parted in Kyōto Station.
Returning to the 11th floor of the mall in the station where the restaurants were located, we picked one with a city view (southward) and had another delightful meal.