kyoto, part four
As we descended from the temple we passed through the Sanneizaka Preservation District, full of flagstone walkways and winding stone pavements, dating back several centuries, lined with very quaint shops, carrying all kinds of high qualities items. It was there that I purchased a lovely set of chopsticks in a variety of different woods and finishes:
On the way down, we also passed the five-roofed Yasaka Pagoda, officially named Houkanji Temple, which is said to have been founded by Shotoku Taishi in the 600s. The existing pagoda was rebuilt by Ashikaga Takauji in the mid-1300s and stands 175 feet to the top of its spire:
Once we finally made it back to the main street and got something cold to drink, we caught a bus back to Kyoto Station and the nearby Hotel Keihan Kyoto where we had made reservations:
Having awoken that morning at 4:30am and after touring Kyoto for eight hours, we were both more than ready for a nap. The next order of business after some rest was dinner.
We wandered around a bit looked at restaurants in the area of Kyoto Station and did stop in a little cafe for some coffee. We had been told by numerous people to try the coffee in Kyoto, which was supposed to be unusually good. Some coffee sounded like a good idea and it turns out that what makes Kyoto coffee unique is that, as far as I could tell from the taste, it's made of pure Java (or at least Indonesian) beans, with their unique flavor.
After not having much luck with restaurants in the vicinity of Kyoto Station, we decided to return to the massive station complex itself, which is at least fifteen stories high and stretches for a couple of city blocks:
With large buildings at either end, the interior center part of the station was a expansive glass atrium:
At the far end of the atrium there are stairs just visible, leading up to several floors of dining. We chose a nice Chinese restaurant where I ordered that classic stand-by of American Chinese cuisine: sweet and sour pork. But this was not a Chinese-American restuarant and so the dish was much superior to the bulk of its American counterpart--less sweet, more spicy, and not overly breaded.
In the picture above, you might also notice a row of lights along the ceiling of the atrium, towards the right. They mark out the bottom side of a pathway running along the peak of Kyoto Station from which one could look out across the nighttime skyline of Kyoto itself, beginning with the Kyoto Tower Hotel, a landmark directly across the street from the station:
The hotel is joined to the trainstation itself by underground walkways, but is best known for its observation tower, reaching up into the skies of Kyoto and providing a scenic view of the entire city:
At this point in the evening, however, what Berek and I really wanted was a nice Western-style bar and some drinks. We earlier had found what looked to be a nice establishment a block or two away from the station, but it ended up being primarily a Japanese bar, serving shochu, sake, and Japanese beer (which isn't bad, by the way, as lighter beers go).
Kyoto Station itself, however, houses the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, the lobby opening into the atrium of the station complex itself:
What's more, the hotel housed "Orbite," a very nice Western-style bar with a wide selection of drinks. Over several hours we each enjoyed a couple of cocktails and then finished off with some nice single-malt scotch, in my case some nicely aged Talisker from the Isle of Skye.
By that point it was after 11pm and, much to my surprise, the city had virtually shut down, which was fine since the next day I was scheduled to speak in Nagoya.
(continue to next post: nagoya)
On the way down, we also passed the five-roofed Yasaka Pagoda, officially named Houkanji Temple, which is said to have been founded by Shotoku Taishi in the 600s. The existing pagoda was rebuilt by Ashikaga Takauji in the mid-1300s and stands 175 feet to the top of its spire:
Once we finally made it back to the main street and got something cold to drink, we caught a bus back to Kyoto Station and the nearby Hotel Keihan Kyoto where we had made reservations:
Having awoken that morning at 4:30am and after touring Kyoto for eight hours, we were both more than ready for a nap. The next order of business after some rest was dinner.
We wandered around a bit looked at restaurants in the area of Kyoto Station and did stop in a little cafe for some coffee. We had been told by numerous people to try the coffee in Kyoto, which was supposed to be unusually good. Some coffee sounded like a good idea and it turns out that what makes Kyoto coffee unique is that, as far as I could tell from the taste, it's made of pure Java (or at least Indonesian) beans, with their unique flavor.
After not having much luck with restaurants in the vicinity of Kyoto Station, we decided to return to the massive station complex itself, which is at least fifteen stories high and stretches for a couple of city blocks:
With large buildings at either end, the interior center part of the station was a expansive glass atrium:
At the far end of the atrium there are stairs just visible, leading up to several floors of dining. We chose a nice Chinese restaurant where I ordered that classic stand-by of American Chinese cuisine: sweet and sour pork. But this was not a Chinese-American restuarant and so the dish was much superior to the bulk of its American counterpart--less sweet, more spicy, and not overly breaded.
In the picture above, you might also notice a row of lights along the ceiling of the atrium, towards the right. They mark out the bottom side of a pathway running along the peak of Kyoto Station from which one could look out across the nighttime skyline of Kyoto itself, beginning with the Kyoto Tower Hotel, a landmark directly across the street from the station:
The hotel is joined to the trainstation itself by underground walkways, but is best known for its observation tower, reaching up into the skies of Kyoto and providing a scenic view of the entire city:
At this point in the evening, however, what Berek and I really wanted was a nice Western-style bar and some drinks. We earlier had found what looked to be a nice establishment a block or two away from the station, but it ended up being primarily a Japanese bar, serving shochu, sake, and Japanese beer (which isn't bad, by the way, as lighter beers go).
Kyoto Station itself, however, houses the Hotel Granvia Kyoto, the lobby opening into the atrium of the station complex itself:
What's more, the hotel housed "Orbite," a very nice Western-style bar with a wide selection of drinks. Over several hours we each enjoyed a couple of cocktails and then finished off with some nice single-malt scotch, in my case some nicely aged Talisker from the Isle of Skye.
By that point it was after 11pm and, much to my surprise, the city had virtually shut down, which was fine since the next day I was scheduled to speak in Nagoya.
(continue to next post: nagoya)
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