Kyoto--Day 1

We decided to take the kids to Kyoto for a week before Christmas.  We borrowed some duffle bags from a friend because we knew we wouldn't be able to fit suitcases in the van (our van is small with limited storage space) and loaded the van up.  I am always impressed with Mike's engineering skills that allow him to cram as much into a small space as possible.  Kyoto is about 5, 5 1/2 hours southwest of us.  We stopped once at a rest stop for gas, lunch and a potty break.  It is so nice that our kids are old enough to travel so easily with now.  Rest stops here are way nicer than in the states.  First of all, the bathrooms are sparkling clean.  There is never any trash or mess anywhere at all.  While they do have soap (some restrooms here in the city do not have soap and you buy it in little packets at the store and carry it with you) they do not have paper towels or even hand dryers most of the time.  This keeps the bathrooms from having trash thrown all over.  The rest stops here also have shops and a food court.  Most of the options are very Japanese but we were able to find something for everyone to eat.  They also have a dog park and gas station in the same parking.  

The drive was beautiful.  This part of Japan reminded me of driving through Virginia or Tennessee.  We showed up at our VRBO at around 6 and checked in.  We knew the Japanese house we rented would be old and somewhat odd from the pictures but it was a cheaper option for us than getting two rooms at a hotel.  I was hoping it would be endearing and it was, but it was more odd than I thought it would be.  It was old and cold.  I could not seem to get warm except for when we cranked the heat up in our room and shut the door.  Eli and Piper slept on floor mats in one room and Felicity slept on a shelf in the closet.  We made a padded bed for her and that is where she wanted to sleep so we let her.  Will and Isaac slept in another room, separated from the other room with sliding doors.  It was freezing in those two rooms and there was something that would bang on the metal roof every night, keeping Piper up. Mike and I had separate beds in the warmer room but the beds were really just padded coffee tables pushed together to make a small double bed. The stairs were really steep and almost everyone slipped on them at one time or another.  There was one bathroom that was really stinky and cold and then a room where you shower.  The washer and dryer were in that room and the dryer kept leaking all over the floor, dripping water all over the carpet.  The kitchen had a floor that slanted on one side of the room and it was also cold.  The oven didn't work and only one stove would light up--sometimes.  The furniture was weird and mismatched but that was fine, we didn't mind that too much.  There was a chair with a pad on it and the pad fell off to reveal a big huge burn hole on the foam.  The ceilings were low for our boys and they smacked their heads on the door frames every day.  It was sufficient for our needs but after five days of being cold, hitting our heads, and just feeling uncomfortable, we decided to come home a day early.  It made me feel really grateful for my apartment and realize, again, just how blessed we are.  

Anyway, back to the first day.  We checked in, unloaded the van, left the kids at the house and walked to the grocery store down the road and found food the kids could eat.  We made a trip the grocery store daily and ate some pretty interesting things that week.  Thankfully, I packed cereal and peanut butter and honey.  

We stayed in Joyo-shi, which is about 30 minutes southeast of Kyoto and headed into Kyoto the next morning.  We visited Fushimi Inari Taisha, with the thousands of torri gates.  It was as cool as I hoped it would be.  I loved it and would have stayed longer if it was just me and Mike but it was really cold outside and the kids were hungry.  

We checked out the shops on the road outside of the temple and bought Felicity a strawberry filled mochi ball and a wooden torri gate for a friend in Tokyo.  Then, we headed to Nishiki Market, which is about five blocks of stalls.  It was really cool with some gross looking food and really interesting things.  The kids were really hungry and not interested in eating fish parts or octopus so we found a Wendy's for half of them and then Mike, Isaac, and I found a Katsu pork place to eat at, which was delicious.  Just as a sidenote, this is the second time I've eaten at a Katsu pork restaurant and it is always delicious with yummy sauce to dip the pork in and their side dishes are always a miso soup, some kind of relished pepper, a bowl of rice, and a mountain of shredded cabbage with a dressing of some sort.  The cabbage is unlimited and if you get a drink, it is usually a very small cup of water or a small cup of soda.  Sometimes they bring you a cup of tea but no water.  

After lunch, we were all freezing cold so we headed to the Ninja and Samuri museum.  It was fun and probably not worth the money but I still really enjoyed it and I think everyone else did as well.  My boys don't really care for sightseeing so I was happy to find the museum for them to do something that didn't involve looking at temples and shrines. 

After the museum experience my back was having spasms and I could barely walk so we left and I made myself walk the rest of the market before heading back to the van.  

Mike tried an octopus with a quail egg in the head and in Japan, you can't eat on the go.  You buy your food and have to eat it right there so he had to eat the octopus right in front of the stall vendor.  He ate the whole thing even though every time he thought about it later it made him feel sick.  

I think there is more I could say about this day but this is a long post so I'll let the pictures say the rest.