On our second day in the Kobe port, we opted to visit Kyoto and see two of Kyoto’s marquee attractions: the impressive Golden Pavilion and formidable Nijo Castle, a quintessential example of Momoyama architecture, which flourished 400 years ago.
We first went to Nijo Castle, a wooden fortification built in 1603 as the residence of the Tokugawa clan. An esteemed UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle is protected by a moat, stone walls and ingenious nightingale floors, which chirp like a bird when walked upon. Some say the floors were meant to serve as a security system to alert the guards of potential intruders. Others say the floors were meant to reflect that anytime the emperor walked, birds sang. Yet others say it was just a coincidence because the chirping wasn’t intentional. Regardless, despite its defensive elements and quirky floors, the castle was primarily a home and was interesting to see. (We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, so not many photos to share here.)
A treat while at the castle was seeing one of some cherry blossoms in full bloom. We’ve been waiting for great examples of these on our trip and we finally got some!
Our next stop was for lunch. They had a lovely Bento box for each of us. The presentation was fantastic and the food was delicious. John remarked that it was the best meal he has had on the trip thus far.
After lunch, we did a little souvenir shopping before heading to our final stop – the Golden Pavilion. The pavilion was originally built as a three-story home in 1397. The second and third stories are covered in shimmering gold leaf. It was incredible.
It follows the Shinden style by being positioned at the edge of a tranquil pond. The mirror reflection of the temple on the glassy pond was a definite highlight.
After meandering around the Golden Pavilion, we did a little souvenir shopping. While wandering through the food stalls, John and Audrey saw some food on display with the word “Samples” and John started to eat one… only to be frantically told not to because they were ‘sample products’ – as in, plastic food representing what was for sale! Haha!
While John and Audrey did a little additional window shopping, Rook and I had some vanilla and Matchi swirled soft serve ice cream. It was magical.
The last thing to mention was that we noticed the simplicity of Japanese license plates. There are kanji symbols on them to provide additional information, but overall they seem so simple and clean it was hard to believe they could distinguish between vehicles with much accuracy!
That concludes our time in Kyoto. It was a long drive (~90 minutes one way) to Kyoto from Kobe, so our actual time in Kyoto was limited, but it was still a positive experience with great sights.