We got up earlier and went outdoor to enjoy the Sakura. This hotel has an entrance way with cherry trees on both sides and has more cherry trees in the garden. Many photos were taken to satisfy our enjoyment of Sakura.
The next attraction was Kiyomizudera Temple (清水寺) which is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage site. The present buildings of Kiyomizudera were constructed in 1633. There was not a single nail used in the entire structure. The temple complex has many attractions such as the Niomon (deva gate), Otowa-no-taki (the waterfall where visitors drink for health, longevity, and success), Torii of Jishu-jinja (a matchmaking shrine), and a Pagoda. After visiting the temple, we walked around Sannenzake (三年坂) and Ninenzaka (二年坂).
Then, we had a nice Italian lunch at the Sodoh restaurant which has a beautiful garden along with vegetable and herb gardens. The services at the Sodoh was excellent and it was a very pleasant experience of having a nice Italian meal in an upscale restaurant in Kyoto.
After lunch, we visited Nijo Castle (二條城) which is a flatland castle in Kyoto consisting of two concentric rings of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace (二之丸御殿) and Honmaru Palace (本丸御殿), along with various support buildings and several gardens. Ninomaru Palace’s decoration includes lavish quantities of gold leaf and elaborate wood carvings, intended to impress visitors with the power and wealth of the shoguns. The castle is an excellent example of social control manifested in architectural space. Lowe-ranking visitors were received in the outer regions of the Ninomaru, whereas high-ranking visitors were shown the more subtle inner chambers. One of the most striking features of the Ninomaru Palace are the “nightingale floors (uguisubari)" in the corridors. To protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them. We only visited the Ninomaru Palace. Then we walked around the gardens to enjoy the cheery trees and Japanese plum trees. It has a large pond with three islands and features numerous carefully placed stones and topiary pine trees.
Signet Tour arranged a Pork Cutlet dinner for us at Ming-Dai. It has a very small front door leading to a narrow walkway to the restaurant. In old days, Japanese’s taxes system was based on the size of the front door, therefore, many businesses had very small front door to minimize their taxes. Due to this restaurant is always crowded, our tour guide Tricia gave us the option of eating there or just eating anywhere we want.
Since we want to visit Gion (袛園), we might not have enough time to sit down and wait for the table. We decided to skip Ming-Dai. We followed Tricia to Gion and got some recommendations about what to see there, then we got our free time to tour Gion. Supposedly this is the place one will have high probability of seeing a geisha. We wondered around and we spotted only one. She walked quietly and quickly passing us and we did not get a chance to take a photo of her.
After visiting Gion we had Ramen for dinner at one of the ramen restaurant recommended by Tricia. We were disappointed by their ramen, The ramen we got at Tiger Den in Houston is much better than their ramen.
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