Day 5: Why Didn't I Go to T.I.T?

We got up a little later than normal today to down our last bland hotel breakfast.

The next hour was a flurry of packing, re-packing, and checking out of the hotel. Overall it was a great place to stay, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a nice, centrally-located place to sleep in Tokyo.

Next we caught the JR train to Tokyo station. This appears to be the Penn Station of Tokyo--trains roaring in and out every second, huge bustling crowds, and unintelligible signs. We found the gate for our Shinkasen to Kyoto and hunkered down to wait for boarding.

While we waited, we watched the station cleaning crew turn over trains for the next set of passengers. This was fascinating. The first thing they did was flip ALL the seats around on a pivot in the base. I'd never seen this before. Next, they cleaned the train completely in about 5 minutes flat. And when I say "completely", I mean it--all the head clothes were replaced, seats vacuumed, floors swept... I was surprised they didn't get down on hands and knees to polish steps. Amazing efficiency.

While on the train, passed the Tokyo Institute of Technology. I admire the proud graduates of TIT.

A few hours later we arrived at Kyoto and navigated our way to our hotel, the Hotel Gimmond Kyoto. This was surprisingly easy--our home in Kyoto was a straight shot from the subway station.

I was mixed on the Hotel Gimmond. As previously mentioned, the location was great, and the price was right. However, our room was so so, but the bathroom was absolutely tiny, reminding of the boat hotel ("Botel") we'd stayed at in Amsterdam. The toiletry shelf is right over the toilet, with the result that Mary dropped her toothpaste in the drink later that night.

After check in, we wandered over to the local castle (who doesn't have a castle down the street these days?) to check it out. Impressive, but unfortunately we'd arrived too late for visiting hours. The visit gave it a firm spot on our to-do list, however. On the way back, we stopped and picked up some snacks for breakfast. After four straight sessions of rice and buns, none of us ended up missing the free hotel breakfasts in Tokyo too much.

Dinner was at a local "Italian" place, which had al dente noodles (rare in Japan) but made its "risotto" out of sushi rice. Still, after eating pretty much pure Japanese the past few days, it was nice to drink some wine and sup on semi-recognizable Italian food.

Japanese signs are nothing if not thorough.

After dinner we decide to walk through the central district of Kyoto. We headed west towards the river, and then walked south through the Teramachi shopping arcades. This is basically a mile of roofed-over alleys full of a eclectic mix of shops--everything from stores showing handmade traditional tea equipment to "100 yen" stores (dollar stores). It also is home to some truly epic signage.

From there we looped around and came up the Pontocho, the remains of the nineteenth-century waterfront district in Kyoto.

This ain't Tokyo: Pontocho at night was amazing.

Pontocho was enchanting at night. In short, it is a narrow alley fronted with some of the oldest wooden houses in the city. In the darkness it was lit up with an eclectic old vs. new combination of traditional Japanese lanterns and neon signs. Throngs of locals and tourists wandered up and down the flagstone pathway, peeking into stores, bars, and restaurants. A very magical place for an evening walk. I know that most of the truly old places are in Eastern Kyoto, but this was a great introduction to a Japan that one just doesn't get in Tokyo.

Our walk complete, we headed back to the hotel and crashed. Tomorrow we'd hit Kyoto like a truck.