Kyoto

More traveling! Our final day to really be a tourist, shop and sight see etc.., could not have happened at a better place. I love Kyoto, It has the feel of a big city yet still maintains it's culture and immense history. Also, the larger than life mountains surrounding the city take it to another level. The castles we visited gave me a taste of what Japan was like back in the days of the Shogun and emperor. Though, I'm a little disappointed that I did not see any Geisha girls. According to a man who worked at the second temple I went to, the Geisha girls have no set public time that they appear, so it is a surprise if one sees them. Too bad because I think they would have really liked me. I finally got to eat at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, which was one of the top things I wanted to do in Japan. It was very simple to understand and extremely delicious. I was a little adventurous in one of the plates that I grabbed because it looked like nothing I've seen before and was very chewy. The shopping was great because I had a lot of things to get for people back home and did so here in Kyoto. One of my proudest purchases is a shirt with a knock off version of the cartoon Totoro on it. It may not be "the" Totoro, but it is unique and funny to look at. Being surrounded by all these old city buildings almost reminded me of Europe, they add a lot of character to such a dynamic city. It was an adventure returning home, since we were on our own. But luckily we were smart enough to figure it out. As the final approaches, night time is dedicated to studying which doesn't really bother me when the day is so successful.