At 6:30am we were starkly woken up by an emegency alert from my phone saying that an earthquake was going to hit immenntly. Seconds later, still half asleep, it felt like the bed was rocking back and forth for a few seconds. It took me a moment to realize that that wasn’t normal (earthquake [reference](https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20240603-189684/)). We went back to sleep and ended up having a late start to the day.
We got going and took the subway to our first stop, Nijo Jo, a castle and former imperial palace. It was completed in 1626 and served as the Kyoto residence of the shogun. There were two concentric walls, like we’d seen in Matsumoto, to slow down invaders. The walking tour through the palace was nice – we saw different chambers used for receiving guests. There were nice murals covering the walls, there was gold accenting around the palace, and there were “nightengale floors” that purposefully squeak so that anyone trying to sneak in would be heard.
We then took the subway to Chion-in, a Buddhist temple complex. The buildings were quite impressive and contained elaborate golden displays of Buddha and various religious icons. Finally, we walked to our last tourist stop, Shoren-in, another Buddhist temple and garden built in the 13th century. It was very calm and relaxing, with a waterfall in the garden and buildings that had open sliding doors, so you could sit on tatami mats indoors while admiring the gardens. There was also a bamboo forest within the grounds.
We then made a lunch stop where I had tonkatsu (sliced pork cutlet with curry sauce and rice) and Viki had gyoza. It was a homely inexpensive placed filled with locals and the waitress gave helped entertain Henry to keep him calm. We took the bus back to our hotel, where Viki and Henry napped, while I went to the onsen. I snuck in my phone and took a few photos, which you’re not supposed to do, but it was the quietest time of day, and no one was in the photos. You can see some of the onsen baths in the photos attached here. In particular, the one-man Tsubo Buro tub is quite neat, and seems like something that could be done relatively inexpensively at home.
When Viki and Henry woke up, we headed out to our dinner reservation, to an Italian Japanese restaurant called Olivia (some friends had recommended it and it had great reviews). It was quite an ordeal trying to make a reservation yesterday, with our hotel calling in since they didn’t speak English, but them not wanting to take us with a baby. Eventually, after emailing, the owner allowed us. Before dinner we walked along the restaurant’s street, parallel to the Kanmo river. The whole street was narrow and filled with nice looking restaurants. It was very pleasant to walk along in the early evening, with the restaurants just opened and the outdoor lights turned on. Once at Olivia, the meal didn’t live up to our very high expectations (Padella in London is our favourite pasta restaurant) as we were expecting that a speciality pasta restaurant would make fresh pasta, but it was dried from a box. It was still nice, and we had a nice time. The owner gave Henry some baguette to chew on.
Finally, we walked through an arcade shopping street nearby. Viki got candied strawberries on a stick and I got a chocolate filled waffle thing baked in the shape of a ten yen coin. We then walked home by night, with Henry alternating between crying and giggling and croaking like a frog.
Tomorrow we’ll take the bullet train to Tokyo and have our final day before flying home.
