Back to Kyoto - for 24 hours, that is

Our last day in Tokyo was laid back, we really needed some rest, and wanted to just do some shopping. We spent some time in the hotel room just goofing around, and it was a blast! We are really going to miss spending so much time with Sophie when we get home, which is the hardest part of leaving.

While traveling with a toddler is great, it is much more tiring than our last trip, even though we saw three times as much last time. We thought we hadn't stopped moving for a second, but now we see that we had - each time we had a train ride, be it 2 hours or 6 - we rested.

Even if all we did was write blog posts or read, we had quiet time. We have no quiet time now, and Sophie always needs to be in movement and entertained, so we are finding ourselves a lot more tired than we ever were last time. In retrospect, 3 weeks is enough, the last couple of days have been exhausting.

Anyway, the train to Kyoto isn't very long, about 2 hours, however when we arrived at the station to get tickets, the next 2 trains were sold out, so we had to wait an hour and a half for a train, which got us to Kyoto later than we had planned. This isn't the first time this has happened to us on this trip, and it hadn't even happened once on the last one, which just shows that there are tons more tourists now than the last time, and you must get tickets ahead of time, if possible.

Luckily for us, Sophie slept most of the way. She is so cute when she's awake, but boy is she adorable when she's asleep! We bought some bentos on the train, and they were delish! When we arrived in Kyoto, it was cold and raining, and even though we technically arrived pretty early, around 3 in the afternoon, we couldn't do anything because of the weather. This was very depressing for us because 1) After a long train ride, you want to walk, 2) Finding a way to entertain Sophie for 3 hours was going to be a problem, and 3) We only had 24 hours in Kyoto.

So we went to the only place we could go in that weather - Nishiki food market! Talia had been there last time, but Rony hadn't, anｄ the market has such interesting booths, that it was great going there a second time. We didn't take pictures this time because it was exactly the same, but you can see the pictures from our last trip to the Nishiki market starting here.

We only spent one night in Kyoto, but it was the same hostel we were in last time, and the Japanese guy who speaks Hebrew was still there! He totally remembered our friend, Maya, who came with us last time because she had recommended tons of Hebrew music to him. He talked to Sophie in Hebrew and she was just floored. It was the most comfortable bed we had on the entire trip. K's House, in case anyone was wondering.

The following morning, we tried to get up early because we wanted to make sure we get tickets early enough to avoid any problems. After grabbing a bite to eat, we took a bus to the Golden Pavilion. The bus was soooo slow,  we felt like we were back in Israel. However, the bus was very clear in what the next stops were, and whenever we passed a tourist spot, a recording came on letting us know where we are and the history of the area, which was great. Fortunately, Sophie slept for part of this ride, which was helpful because there was no way to entertain her there.

The Golden Pavilion, which Rony had visited last time (but Talia hadn't), is stunning. The area surrounding it is also gorgeous, and Sophie had a great time walking around. At this point, she already understands that if we put the shoes on, it means she will get to walk, and she gets so excited that she can't stop screaming with glee and flinging her arms!

By the time we were done, it was too late to go to the castle we had intended on going to, but we are already used to it. So, you know, next time. ;-)

We got back to the train station with enough time left to calmly get our bags, which we had left in lockers in a station, and find our train. We had a short train ride and then we switched to a longer ride (about 2.5 hours) to Takayama. This train was actually hilarious - unlike other trains, this one had some kind of a tour guide that kept telling us to look to our right and left, accompanied by countless stories about what we are looking at! It was actually really awesome, especially since Sophie was asleep the whole way.

Takayama is a small town that is basically traveled to only twice a year during the festivals, one of which takes place in a couple of days. While we originally thought it was a hole in the ground, it is actually quite charming and we are really enjoying our time here!

When we arrived, it was really cold - so cold that it started to snow an hour later. Sophie's first snow! She, of course, was unphased. We basically only went to get some milk for her and dinner for us and came back.

Pictures from Kyoto (and a few from Takayama, but the post is already really long): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725771680364.1073741837.906005363&type=1&comment_id=39492097&offset=0&total_comments=1&notif_t=photo_album_comment