Hmmm... so much for going to bed late and getting up late, I'm tied to the sun. 5:30am. Ok, doesn't matter. I get up and put most of the clothes we washed on a drying rack while waiting for 7am bakery opening. Bailley got up before 7 as well, so it's not just me. At 7 I walk to a local bakery and grab just a few things for everyone to share. So scrumptious.
We all get ready and do a light sub-packing-pack using just our backpacks for our 2-3 days in Kyoto. Walk, a couple of metro lines, and we're in Tokyo station. Whoa Nellie, this is a big station. And to make it feel even larger, it's attached to a mall? Multiple malls? We explore a bit and then everyone goes and gets a drink and some food for the train. Most Japanese trains and metros we were told not to eat or drink, but the Shinkansen (bullet train) is fine. Oh, speaking of rules on the metro, there's no talking, no phone conversations, no nothing... just amazing silence. After we get food and just chill a minute, we make our way to the Shinkansen area. The entrance turnstiles are different, so we watch a minute... ok... scan train QR code then tap Suica... boom... we got this. Well, not so much. We got in line for help and the person evidently had to do special scanning and the Suica taps to let us through, but we made it.
This is our train pulling up. The thing to notice is all the blue uniformed people are each exit/entrance to the train. They are cleaners. They attacked that train like it's the SWAT olympics. Cleanliness in general in this country is no joke.
Got a short glimpse or the very top of Mt. Fuji! It's supposed to rain on the return trip, so I think this was our best shot.
Made it to Kyoto station and then grabbed a taxi to the Ryokan.
The person who showed us to our room also showed us how to use the tea set and how to dress properly in our kimonos.
She also would come back and make matcha for us. After the matcha, we just explored the grounds a little and chilled. Later they came and escorted us to dinner. Wow, we had such a great time... so much food and very very good.
Then the girls went to the onsen and I went back to start resting up for tomorrow.
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