So, this isn't about my host family, here. That post is still in the pipes. On friday I have no class after 11AM, so I decided to take the train to Kyoto and took some sightseeing. I had downloaded a series of maps from the Japanese government's tourism website of walking tours of Kyoto. Friday I did the first one, which mainly took me along "the philosopher's path" in eastern Kyoto. We'll be mostly pictures today. Captions too, though! Can't forget the captions.
So, here are three pictures of getting there- the first one is of Hirakata Satation, the one nearest my school, and the other two were taken from the train. The ride takes about 30 minutes and costs about 400 yen each way, which is more or less 4 dollars. I had stowed my bag and headphones in a con locker at the station, so I wasn't really listening to "Final Day" by the Young Marble Giants, but nonetheless! They're our captions.
Three more: The first is of a signpost, captioned with a quote from the Wizard of Oz - Dorothy asks the scarecrow that after he shakes his head then immediately nods it. For some reason it was the first thing I thought of when I thought "signpost." The next two are of Ginkauji - "the silver pavilion." It's a zen temple, with a sand garden that has a sand replica of mt fuji. The pavilion itself is rather small, and was under construction, but the garden was nice. Pretty blustery day, though.
One last bunch: The philospoher's path is a famous walk along an old canal, and it ends right near a big temple, another zen one: Nanzenji, nan meaning South, zen meaning zen, and ji meaning temple. It had a very impressive gate! We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming eventually. Anyway, it was fun just wander around by myself, and since my schedule is the same every week and there were lots of walking tour routes all over the city, I'll probably do it again! Stay tuned.
1 comment:
That sounds like a good use of your time. I'm back in Oberlin today.. boo. I'll keep Simon company for you.
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