Shinsen-en

After a tiring night and day of the festival (so much for relaxing days off, eh?), my friend Kathy decided to stay in Kyoto to do a little sightseeing. We made our way to the Nijo Castle, only to discover that it's not open on Tuesdays in August. So I took her to a nearby garden/shrine that I'd ridden by on my bike but never stopped at to check out.

It was such a beautiful and peaceful place built on top of what used to be swamplands in front of the castle. It now holds small performances and ceremonies and is visited by worshippers at its shrine and patrons of its traditional restaurant.

Only when I looked it up a few minutes ago did I realize that it was instrumental in the history of the GIon Festival. Of all the places for us to go, we "happened" to choose the one connected to the parade we'd just come from. And here we just sat and had ice cream and got bit by a few mosquitoes!

You can see the beauty of it all HERE.