Arrived in Kyoto yesterday around 3 and checked in to our awesome studio apartment (photo below). Last year at the end of our Poland/ Germany trip we decides that it would be nice to have an apartment, so we could have something a little more homey to go back to after a long day of not speaking the language. So when we were planning this trip, we found this place, and it had great reviews, plus it is cheaper than most of the hotels in the area. I’m so glad we found it because it is already way more comfortable than a hotel.
We didn’t have anything planned for yesterday except for just getting here an checking in. With that accomplished, we set out to find a grocery store to buy some supplies: wine, coffee, and breakfast food. It’s so nice to not have to get dressed and go out for breakfast!
We found a convenience store after walking around the Gion neighborhood for a while. The street here are very narrow and lined with a million little shops and restaurants. We are always just inches away from being run over by a car.
We had dinner at a conveyor belt sushi place (cheap!), where we apparently won some kind of contest by having our charge go through at the exact time when the cash register’s clock hit “00″ seconds. Yeah, not really sure about that. They gave us a little note that said our card would be credited some amount at a later date, but I didn’t catch the exact amount…
We had beers at an Irish pub, and then went looking for a Japanese bar. Harder than we thought. In the Frommers guidebook we are using and the Lonely Planet guide w found input apartment, almost all of the bars listed are Irish or English style. We eventually found a bar on Pontocho street, which is a narrow alley lined with mostly very traditional restaurants and clubs. The we found actually seemed to be modeled after a Mad Men era cocktail lounge, with English lounge music. So it wasn’t exactly the local experience we were hoping for, but we were the only non-Japanese in the place, so it’s maybe as close as we’ll get.
Today is looking like it’s going to rain all day, so we’re headed for the Kyoto National Museum and some other indoor things.
