Kyoto

We woke before dawn to start the six hour drive to Kyoto. We caught a glimpse of Mount Fuji on the way. We got there afternoon and decided to visit the world heritage site of Daigoji. This place has many shrines and temples including this five roof temple. The gardens were lovely to walk through. This place was founded in the year 874 so there is a lot of history here. After several hours of looking around we drove to our AirBnB in Kyoto. We found our second story flat without too much trouble. This place must be a hostel in the busy season but we all have our own beds so that is nice. We went out to eat at a traditional Japanese place because it was Offspring #2's birthday. We sat on cushions on the floor which is not too comfortable for me but I managed. The grandgirls, seated on cushions on the floor, preferred to sprawl in prone positions which is not polite and caused a bit of strife. We had salad with lettuce, lotus root, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, onions and other vegetables. We had tofu in another dish. We had fried potatoes and other vegetables. The meal ended with noodle soup. The man who owns this tiny 12 seat restaurant and who did all the cooking asked to take our photo so we let him do that. When we came in he had mediation music on but after we were there he switched it to American music. I preferred the mediation music myself. We walked back to our apartment and went to bed. The first day in Kyoto went well. Today was the second day in Kyoto. The weather was blistering hot and humid. After a five minute walk our shirts were soaked in perspiration. We took a bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. These gardens were lovely. We were allowed into the palace grounds. A storm came up. Thunder and lightening were fierce. The rain poured down. I had brought an umbrella to block the sun so I stayed dry. We spent a few hours at the Imperial Palace enjoying the history and the atmosphere. We walked across the river for lunch. By the time we finished with that it was 3 in the afternoon. We headed home on the bus with all the other wet travelers.