We went and visited Okazaki Shrine which is also known as the rabbit shrine because of all of the rabbit statues. The girls were excited about seeing it but for some reason they were on edge and ended up squabling a fair bit while we were there. The girls were still respectful and performed the rituals well, they were just rude to each other for some reason, so we didn't end up staying for too long.
We walked through Kyoto on the way to a temple when we stumbled onto a neat tea house. We decided to stop and have some artisinal chocolates and nice tea. It was such a relaxing and nice experience and an opportunity to refresh ourselves.
We really like Kyoto and it was so nice to be back. We really enjoy walking through the back streets and small alleyways which are so interesting with lots of character. TV found a place where he could get a kitchen knife made and be taught how to sharpen it. So we went to an arcade where the master knifemaker had a workshop. On the way we walked along a stream which had beautiful willows along both sides. While TV learned about knives the girls went and had really interesting ice cream. We also did a geocache along the river. It was a nice start to our visit to Kyoto.
We headed to Kyoto which is a quick Shinkansen ride from Osaka, but we decided not to take the Shinkansen. For a cheaper ticket, albeit a longer travel time, we instead caught the Kyo-train Garaku from Umeda Station to the middle of Kyoto. This special train only runs at select times, but was certainly worth riding. The carriages are very nicely appointed inside and included zen gardens in some of the carriages. We got there a little bit early to make sure that we got a good seat since the train is quite popular and that way really enjoyed the ride and the looking at the garden.
We took advantage of SV's offer to babysit the girls to go out for a nice dinner and a quick drink at two really cool spots. Both places were near our accomodation but required a short walk through the again empty shopping street. We had dinner at a place that cooked on hot plates again but it was much more than that, we a really nicely appointed bar and seating area. We then went to a rockabilly bar which only served what the owner had on hand and the owner played Grateful Dead and other rock music. It was such a fun night since both places were pretty small allowing us to have some nice conversation with verious people, particularly at the second bar.
The park proved to be really popular last time so we went back so that SV could have a play as well. The girls really enjoyed all of the equipment even though there was no white peacock this time. Eventually we went to get some sushi and other treats for dinner.
We went to a restaurant that was serving ramen and cool Studio ghibli inspired desserts. The atmosphere was good and we had fun with some of the toys included with the meal. The only let down was that the ramen was average, but the desserts did not disappoint.
