After the obligatory stop for coffee and food, it was time to take another long walk and head to the Gion area and Nishiki Market.
A 50-minute walk led us to the Gion area, which is considered the geisha district. The main stretch of road didn’t allow photographs, though other than the road, there wasn’t much going on at the time of our arrival. After that quick stroll, we ended up at Kenninji Temple.
This was the first location that required us to remove our shoes. It’s not the most fun idea in 40° weather. It wasn’t too bad. We were able to walk into some of the tatami rooms in the Ojoin and Hojo buildings.
To enter the Hatto building, they provided slippers to walk across the connected walkway to view the inside and see the statues and ceiling mural.
After this, we hit the gift shop and then made our way off the temple grounds. We ended up at Yasaka Pagoda. I was turned around on my phone map and thought we were more north. Oh well, still cool. We did witness a little bit of snow try to start, but fortunately, it was just a hint and not something we needed to worry about.
Now that I had my bearings, we headed to Nishiki Market. A quick 25-minute walk, and we were there and ready for food. We ended up in a little hole in the wall Japanese curry cafe for a needed rest, food, and beer.
Once done, we made a walk through the market. It was crowded at this point, and I’m not sure I’d want to see how it gets in the evening. There is plenty of food to choose from, but not much in the way of desert.
Ah, now another long walk back to the hotel for a break before we decided to head back out for a quick dinner and perusal of the local shopping mall.
What better dinner is there than McDonald’s? Seemed a must just to see the difference in menu and quality. I ordered the teriyaki fillet-o-fish with a side of spicy garlic pepper nuggets and a Fanta Melon drink. The order screen asked if I wanted an NYC cheesecake Mcflurry. Sure, I can’t say no to cheesecake.
The fillet-o-fish looked to be an actual filled and not the square patty you get in the States. The nuggets were definitely the standard issue McDonald’s nuggets, but in the previously mentioned flavor. The melon soda was good, though I don’t know what melon flavor that would be. The McFlurry was good.
At the grocery store section of the mall, I ended up grabbing some fancy Kit Kat flavors to bring home – Sake and Cheesecake.
Steps this day: 25,509.
slow draw is... 