Kyoto

The next stop on our trip was Kyoto. On the train ride down we passed Mt. Fuji which really seemed to rise out of nowhere. For the time of year we were surprised that there was very little snow on top. Walking around Kyoto on the first evening, we were shocked to run into a former coworker of Leo's in one of the arcades. Kyoto is a very large and confusing city, and every map you get makes things look a lot closer than they are...that is if you ever find the places you're looking for. On our first night we tried desperately to find a bar, named A-bar (which didn't make it any easier). After about an hour and a half of searching, we settled on a different bar, where we ended up staying most of the night and befriending the staff and a family who was on vacation from Nagoya. The next day we walked miles around the east side of Kyoto, visiting various shrines and temples. This is the ceiling and alter of the Kenninji Temple. This is the huge tori gate outside of the National Museum of Modern Art (which surprisingly had a show of works from the Borghese Gallery in Rome.