Kyoto

We took a day trip to Kyoto, Japan's former capital. We got up really early and headed out on the train to Osaka station where we met our guide who took us by train to Kyoto. Once in the city we met up with the rest of our tour. We got a few looks as we arrived with the babies in a sling and a bjorn and Gabriella in tow. However, everyone was absolutely perfectly behaved during the trip. We had three stops during the morning portion of the tour. Our first stop was the Kyoto palace, it was beautiful with many hand carved rooms. The floor was called the Nightingale floor because of the sound it made when you walked on it. According to legend the emperor had it made so he could hear his enemies coming. Other theories is that it's old and squeaky. The second stop was the golden pavilion. It was a lovely walk through some beautiful gardens, the pavilion was shiny gold and in the middle of a green water lagoon. The last stop was the royal residence, we weren't allowed to go inside, just walk around the outside of the building. It was still very impressive. Our stop for lunch was the Kyoto Handi-craft center. We had to hurry and eat before our afternoon tour to Nara left.

Nara is the ancient capital of Japan, it's home to many sacred deer. The one pictured above was very interested in the deer crackers we purchased, however most of the deer would happily snack on paper or anything else you happen to have hanging out of your pockets. I saw one eat pages out of a magazine that was hanging out of a ladies purse. The first stop in Nara was a Buddhist temple, the Buddha inside was giant and awe inspiring. There was a hole in a pillar which is the same size as Buddha's nostril, if you can fit through the hole you can be admitted into heaven. I have a little work to do to fit through the hole, but Gabriella could easily fit. The next stop was a shinto shrine, it was located in a wooded area and Gabriella and Greg took Julia with them while I sat on a quiet bench with Genevieve. We watched the deer wandering around the area, eating people's magazines. When Gabriella returned we took turns feeding the deer crackers before it was time to get on the bus. Our trip home on the train was fairly uneventful. The twins and Gabi had a few new friends on the train and we learned the Japanese word for cute.