Kyoto: Nijojo Castle

Our original Japan itinerary did not include Kyoto. We were planning to return to Tokyo for a couple of days after Hiroshima. However, after the earthquake, we thought it might be best to limit our time in Tokyo. We read in our guidebooks that Kyoto is quintessential Japan, so Kyoto it was. After spending a bit too long in Nishiki Market, we hightailed it to Nijojo Castle.

In Kyoto, we bought the one day bus pass. I couldn't believe it when I saw a mom drop off a little girl (who did not look much older than k) at the bus stop to ride all by herself!


Unfortunately, we were not able to spend much time in the castle, because we had reservations at 2:00 for the Imperial Palace tour. There were crowds of school kids that we had to squeeze our way through. No pictures were allowed inside, but the one thing I do remember is shuffling along in our socks on the "nightingale" floors. The floors were built to squeak in order to prevent enemies from quietly sneaking into the castle.



By this time, the rain was pretty steady.






The moat






Lots o' cherry blossoms


I thought this umbrella-lock system was neat.