Japanese style breakfast at 8:30 am. By 9:30 am we left the ryokan and headed for the Sanjo Keihan-mae bus stop. From there we took a bus to the Kinkaku-ji, or Golden Pavilion. Which was as beautiful as ever. Or at least since 1955 when it was rebuilt after some crazy monk burned it down in 1950.

Then we walked to the Ryoanji temple but once there we found they too wanted an entrance fee so we decided to not enter. Instead we got on the 59 bus back to the Imperial Palace.

To enter the Imperial Palace you need to register at the Imperial Hosehold Agency at the north west part of the walled park. And bring your passport. As a foreigner you can get admission to a 50 minutes guided tour the same day, whereas Japanese peple have to wait longer. We decided that swing the palace from the outside was enough.

And in the park outside the palace we had a chance to see winter sakura (plum that blossom in the winter). We also found a family doing winter hanami.

Instead of entering the palace we had lunch. Jimmy and Emma had karage (fried chicken) amd I had nabe (hot pot) wit vegetables and fish at a small restaurant (Ryo-en) that had glass and plate and chairs from IKEA.

After lunch we entered the Nijo-jo (castle). It was built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa. As a safeguard the building was fitted with “nightingale” floors that squeak and sing with every move, making it impossible for an intruder to move around silently.

Once again outside the castle it was time to head back to our ryokan for a rest. Before going out for dinner.

We had dinner at a yaki-niku (BBQ) restaurant. We had kalbi, cheek, garlic, corn, and noodle soup. Afterwards we rolled back to the ryokan and into bed.

Rised and shined at just past 7 am to catch our Shinkansen train to Kyoto. We had breakfast on the train. Sandwiches bought at Andersen bakery.

Arriving in Kyoto we took train and subway to the Keage station from where it was only 5 min to our ryokan Azuki-ya.

We left our bags there and went out looking at all the beautiful old buildings in Kyoto, including a few temples and shrines… Nanzen-ji, Heian-jingu, Chion-in, and Kiomizu-dera.

Back at the ryokan at 5 pm we checked in and got some green tea.

At 7:30 pm we went out for dinner. Just 100 meter away was Kiraku, a Okonomiyaki restaurant. Quite good and not too expensive.

Afterwards we walked around in Gion and across the river to watch the Kyoto “night life”. But we were exhausted after walking the whole day so we went back to the ryokan early, and went to ned.