Kyoto's Imperial Palace

Yesterday was a beautiful day, so I biked through Kyoto Gyoen National Garden - which is the outer, public gardens of Kyoto's Imperial Palace. 

Outer wall of Kyoto Sento which contains the inner gardens and a tea house. 

The landscaping was beautiful, and the atmosphere was peaceful. 

There were so many old and gnarly trees.
This one has support beams supporting its ancient branches.

Outer wall surrounding the former residence of the Emperor of Japan.

Mt. Diamonji is in the background.
The cleared area is where they build and burn the 大.

My new ride! It's electric...

I could only wander around the outer area, because you have to apply to visit the inner gardens. I would like to return to explore the inner gardens when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

Climbing Daimonji-Yama

On Sunday morning Nick and I took off to hike up Mt. Daimonji, which is known to offer some of the best views of Kyoto.

Mt. Daimonji has the gigantic Kanji character for dai (大) near the top of the mountain. During the Daimonji Gozan Okuribi festival in August giant bonfires are burned in the form of 5 different shapes or characters on five of the surrounding mountains. This is an ancient Kyoto festival, and the fires are lit to send-off their ancestors' spirits. (If you're interested, here's a link to a more detailed description of the festival: http://www.kyoto.travel/2009/11/gozan-no-okuribi-mountain-bon.html.)

Sunday was a pretty gray, cloudy day, so unfortunately the views of Kyoto weren't at their finest. Still it was a warmer day, and it felt nice to be out and about exploring the new terrain. Here are some pictures from our hike.

on the way up: log stairs, rock stairs, stone stairs, lots of stairs...

"Now this is more like it."

 views from the top: hazy mountains and city

One of the "legs" of the dia (大) character descending the mountain. 

The bonfires are built by volunteers, and our host Kiwamu-san is one of the volunteers who helps with the 大.

Higashiyama Ward

Mountains to the east of Yamashiana Ward (Can you see the tops of the temples/houses in the mountains?)

The green field on the right side of the pic is Kyoto University baseball/softball fields. 

North Kyoto

Mt. Daimonji's summit is at 465 meters.  It was a nice hike, and even though the hike is rated as "easy" - I was feeling the burn. I can't complain though, because even babies were doing the hike. Also, my sisters, one of them 8 months pregnant, climbed Camelback mountain last week.


Anyway, at the top of the mountain we met a guy from Atlanta who has been living in Kyoto for the past two years. We sat and talked for awhile and then followed him to Osaka and Kobe. Details on that quick, spontaneous adventure to come, but for now please enjoy the cuteness...

One of the "babies" climbing the mountain. 

She even carried her stuffed rabbit up with her.

Chillin' at the top

Views of the Kamogawa

Photos taken March 7th.

Street Takoyaki

It seems like every street has a small fish and vegetable market, mom and pop soba shop, and/or lawson drugstore/shiseido chainstore.

Fortunately for us, one street over we found the cheapest takoyaki (fried octopus dumpling ball) we've seen in Kyoto so far.

 Takoyaki is cooked in special takoyaki pan. 

Topped with takoyaki sauce + anori (seaweed flakes) + bonito (fish flakes) 

According to Nick it is delicious. I'm not a huge fan...