Mom's visit, part Four

On Tuesday, we met up with Sadao again, for another day of being led around. He first took us to one of the most important and largest zen temples in Kyoto, called Nanzen-ji. It's up on the East mountainside, and has a giant protective gate that we were able to climb up. The stairway is steep and narrow, with hordes of people going up and down at the same time, making for a difficult climb. But the view from the top was amazing. You could see all of Kyoto from over the treetops, and just looking down at the subtemples below was beautiful.

Sadao then treated us to yet another traditional meal, and I think the novelty had worn off for my visitors by this point. There is so much to Japanese food besides sushi, teriyaki, and tempura that most Americans know nothing about. So each of my students wanted to introduce them to traditional cuisine here. But that meant a little redundancy, especially for food they didn't really like but had to eat to be polite!

After lunch, we got on a boat ride that took us around a nearby canal, lined with cherry blossoms. It had started to rain (again!) so the covered roof was nice. As we went under low bridges, the roof actually lowered by hydraulics so that we could clear them.

From the dock, we walked to the Kyoto Handicraft Center to do some shopping. I left Mom and Jacque with Sadao so that I could teach a couple lessons and meet up with them later. Unfortunately, Sadao took his duties too seriously and began to drag them all over the place, stopping for only brief intervals. They barely even made it in time to meet me later!

During certain times of the year, some of the tourist attractions have special night time "light-ups" where you can see illuminated vegetation. In this case, we met up with some of my students to see the Nijo Castle Light-up. Unfortunately, the blossoms hadn't fully bloomed here yet, but it was still a beautiful night, and we were surprised by a concert of koto, traditional Japanese stringed instruments, played by women in kimono.

Along with the students, we went to dinner and then to see a movie (in English), which didn't let out until midnight. Another long day was behind us...