Grandma Jenny and Papi in Kyoto

My parents came to visit in April, and in addition to watching Will play tee ball and Clara dance, we took them to Kyoto!  We only spent a couple of days there, with the first day being repeats of places that we visited before, so I'll just give a quick recap from our first day.  

First, we went to Fushimi Inari, one of my very favorite places in all of Japan!

Then, of course, we had to show them the Golden Pavilion!

And, then, to finish off our day, we took them to Nijo Castle, or, as we like to call it: Ninja Castle.

The rest of our time in Kyoto was spent going to new places, which I'll post about soon!

Kyoto Trip: Heian Jingu Shrine and Silver Pavilion

Our last couple of stops on our Kyoto Trip were to the Heian Jingu Shrine and the Silver Pavilion.  The big draw for us to visit the Heian Jingu Shrine was the gardens with their stepping stones across the pond.  Or at least this was how we got the kids excited to visit yet another shrine!  But, the pond lived up to the hype and the kids crossed over on the stones two or three times and had a blast.

The gardens were absolutely gorgeous though and so peaceful.  As we walked along the winding paths through the gardens, we were pleasantly surprised at the end when we came across a long covered bridge with benches to sit overlook the scenery and the shrines.  While we were sitting on the bridge, we saw boxes of bread to feed the fish and turtles.  The kids were thrilled and had a fun time feeding them before we were on our way.

Just like Heian Jingu, and all of the other shrines we visited in Kyoto, the Silver Pavilion also had beautiful gardens, as well as incredible dry sand zen gardens.  What is most interesting about the Silver Pavilion is that it doesn't have any silver on it!

Image via

The gardens were surrounded by bamboo forests and the paths lead up a mountainside with beautiful views of Kyoto from the top.  It was a perfect end to a perfect week in Kyoto!

Kyoto Trip: Sagano Scenic Railway

Another fun activity for young kids in Kyoto is the Sagano Scenic Railway.  This old fashioned train is open--no roof or windows, which adds the excitement, as well as being optimal for viewing the beautiful scenery.

The train travels up, and through (lots of tunnels!), the mountainside, and alongside a big river.  It was also nice and cool feeling the fresh air, and the mountain was absolutely gorgeous.

We finally reached Sagano, a little country town nestled in the mountains.  And to greet us at the train station was a funny little family of "raccoon dogs"!

Kyoto Trip: Nijo Castle

The Nijo Castle quickly became another favorite spot of Peter's and mine.  It was incredible with its giant walls, two motes, beautiful grounds and gardens, and fascinating architecture.  And what's crazy is that it is located pretty much right in the center of downtown Kyoto.  (Obviously the "Kyoto" we know today was built around this castle, but it is still incredible to be driving down a busy street and see an incredibly large wall pop up surrounding an ancient castle!)

The Nijo Castle belonged to the first shogun of the Edo Period, and it's easy to tell of the wealth and power that he held.  The security of the castle and its other buildings was immense; we couldn't stop fathoming at the size of the stone walls surrounding the grounds.  I can't imagine what it must have been like to build such structures without our modern machinery--no wonder it took 25 years to complete!  Seeing and thinking about these things really just made this castle even more awe-inspiring.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the castle, but it was beautiful--in a very clean and sleek way.  There was not a piece of furniture in the entire palace, but instead, each room was laden with tatami mats, the ceilings were decorated, and the sliding doors were beautifully painted.  The building is made up of 5 separate buildings that are all connected.  Visitors to the shogun were only allowed in the outer-most rooms, with closer and more intimate guests being allowed in the inner rooms, and only the shogun's female guests were allowed in his personal chambers in the center.  What was most interesting to me about the Nijo Castle were the secret doors built into some of the rooms for the shogun's bodyguard to sneak in through in order to protect him, and the "nightingale floors" throughout the castle that squeaked when walked upon so that no one could ever sneak in and attack.  We told Will that this castle was a ninja castle for those reasons :)

This is a picture from beneath the floorboards, showing the metal pieces that create the creaking when walked upon.

Visiting the Nijo Castle almost didn't make our list of things to do in Kyoto, but I'm so glad that we changed our plans and went!  It really was so awesome and made me want to learn more about shoguns, samurai, etc. and to read the classic, Shogun, by James Clavell :)

Kyoto Trip: Toei Kyoto Studio Park

When we were planning our Kyoto trip, we knew that we'd be visiting lots of shrines and gardens, and so we tried to make sure to include attractions that our kids would enjoy as well.  And, so, with William being as into ninjas as he is, we sought out some ninja stuff to do, which is how we came upon the Toei Kyoto Studio Park.

Toei Kyoto Studio Park is actually an Edo period movie set, where tons of movies have been, and are still, filmed.  But, in addition to just being able to walk around in an old-fashioned looking Japanese village, there are a bunch of fun things to do.  There are live ninja shows and people walking around in ninja, samurai, and geisha costumes, there are restaurants and shops, and then there are fun attractions like a ninja training course, ninja mystery house, maze, haunted house, and costume/photo shop.  William was in heaven.  His favorite was the ninja training course, which he went through twice.  While this place was somewhat pricey, it was definitely worth giving Will the ninja experience that he's been wanting since we moved to Japan.