Yesterday, we woke early, packed our bags, and trekked down to Akebonobashi (pronounced Ah-kay-BO-no-baa-she) station, where we rode the Toei Shinjuku (pronounced Toe-A SHIN-joo'koo) line to Shinjuku-sanchome (SHIN-joo'koo SAHN-cho-may). We then transferred to the Marunouchi (MA-roo-no-OOH-chee) line, which took us to Tokyo station, where we could hop on the shinkansen (SHIN-kahn-sen)! ...Did you catch all those pronunciations?
Last time we were in Japan, we were within walking distance to Shinagawa station, so we just went there to catch the shinkansen. This time, it was closer to go to Tokyo, so that's where we went!
Here's Cinnamon waiting on the platform with all our stuff. Does she look cold? It was about 45 degrees, plus cloudy and windy when we left. (In the background is a shinkansen train, but obviously not the one we took).
We were waiting for this Hikari train. (There are three different names for the shinkansens that run west/south: the Kodama stops at every station, the Hikari stops at fewer stations, and the Nozomi stops at only a few major stations. Our rail pass won't let us take the Nozomi, so we usually opt for the Hikari, as it's the quickest way to get to our destination). The sign is telling us the name and number of the train, when it's coming, where its final stop is (in this case, Okayama), whether it's a smoking or non-smoking car, and where it will be stopping. It's currently saying: [Shizu]oka, Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Kyoto, Shin-[Osaka].
We got there early-ish, so we had about 20 minutes to kill before the train came. We went and bought some drinks for the ride, then stood around.
Don't we look thrilled?
Just over two and a half hours later, we made it to Kyoto station. From there, it was only about an 8 minute walk to our hostel. We figured we'd be able to find it again no problem, so we didn't even bother looking up the directions.
And we were right!
It was very easy to find! So we checked in and dropped our stuff off in our room. This time, the room is much smaller. As you may remember from these two example pictures...
and
...last time we stayed here, we had bunk beds, a small couch, and a desk with a little LCD TV on it. This time, we have bunk beds and a little bookshelf. It's not as small as the place we had in Fukuoka, but it's tiny. Unfortunately, it's not any cheaper (in fact, it's even more expensive since the dollar is weaker this time around). In any case, the beds are far more comfortable than what we have in Tokyo, so we're not complaining.
Once we dropped off our bags, we headed back out to... wander the city aimlessly, which is what we're best at, of course! It was already about 5pm by the time we got to some of the larger shopping streets, so we ended up not doing a whole lot of shopping. Instead, we got dinner. And just a few shops down from where we ate, was a restaurant called Star.
They were having a Strawberry Fair, as you can see by all the delicious looking parfaits in the picture.
But the real draw is this, and I quote, "crazy big parfait" up top. It costs 3680 yen, roughly $41! Obviously it's the kind of dessert that's meant to be shared... hopefully with about 4 other people. Honestly, I don't know why we didn't eat here. Maybe tomorrow...
After dinner, we wandered around the city a little more, then started heading back. We figured we'd grab some snacks from the conbini for later, then just hit the hay so we could get an early start the next day.
As you can see, we're behaving ourselves. And in the background of that picture, you can see Kyoto Tower, which is just across the street from the station. Here's a close-up.
Compared to every other tower we've seen in Japan (Tokyo, Kobe, and Fukuoka), Kyoto Tower is pretty lame. Maybe it's because the city is old. Who knows.
Today, unfortunately, didn't turn out as we had planned. We were going to get up early, rent a couple of bikes from the hostel, and bike either to Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion), or Arashiyama. Bu~t I was feeling dizzy and icky when I woke up, so it ended up that I stayed in bed for several more hours, and Cinnamon went out and had lunch by herself. She brought me back some crackers and a peanut butter sandwich from the conbini, because sometimes eating will help with my dizziness.
I ate the sandwich and we chilled in the room watching youtube videos for a few more hours, and little by little, I started feeling better. So I threw on some clothes and we made the executive decision to go... back to Fushimi Inari shrine! You may remember it from this post (all the way at the bottom). I'll post pictures and things about it next time. I took 97 pictures. For now, it's off to bed with me so we can hopefully succeed in doing something earlier tomorrow, even though it's supposed to be rainy.
1 comment:
WOW The big crazy parfait looks awesome. Harry said he wants one...but is not sharing!!!
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