July 15 Photos - Kyoto

This is an abbreviated series of descriptions of photos from our trip to Kyoto. For more details, read the journal entry and then quiz our awesome travelers when they return!
We began the day by having our younger members buy the train tickets - as training for the navigation contest the following day.









In Kyoto we greatly enjoyed the dancing performance by Fukukimi, who is 16 years old. She is a maiko, an apprentice geisha.

We took advantage of the opportunity to have our picture taken with Fukukimi. Ask the girls in our group to give a recreation of the dance moves to truly make it come alive for you.

In Kyoto we enjoyed a traditional Japanese meal served in a beautiful tatami mat room. Several of the dishes are shown below.

Our first sightseeing stop in Kyoto was the Gold Pavilion. The place was jammed with school groups, which typically come earlier in the year but had their visits postponed this year due to the swine flu.

In the afternoon we toured the extensive complex of buildings known as the Imperial Palace. This was a place to let your imagination run wild, of the days when the Emperor and his court lived here in residence.







Gradually we became familiar with the drill of removing your shoes before entering most temples and shrines. Note the fan in the hand of Tess. The days seemed to get hotter and hotter during our visit. A good heat description of the final days is "steamy".

Later in the day we loved a thrilling ride through the extremely narrow, hilly streets of Kyoto, and then took a break from our shopping at the Nishiki Market Street (get ready for many, many souvenirs!) to visit the Kinkakuji Temple.

This is the stunning Kyoto train station. We moved to the very top of the structure by escalator and then back down again.