Pouring rain and it was our walking day in Kyoto. At every establishment, they had a stand with plastic bags for your umbrellas! We headed to the antique section in Gion- a section filled with old houses, antique shops and art galleries. We managed to find a few “junk-antique shops” and found a Tojo plate! We also found a “fat-boy doll”. 
Once back on the bus, we headed to the Sanjusangen-do Temple. The name refers to the 33 spaces between the pillars of the building, which houses 1001 statures of the Thousand-Armed Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of Mercy). A huge gilded statue of Kannon is in the center of the building. In front of the statues are the 28 guardians of Buddhism, many derived from the Hindu pantheon.
One last stop was at Kiyomizudera-dera (Temple)- the Clear Water Temple. It was established in 780 by a Buddhist priest from Nara who was commanded in a vision to seek the pure source of the Kizu River. It belongs to the Shingon-Hosso Buddhist sect, dedicated to the worship of Kannon. We got to see the statue of the Buddha that is only shown to the public every 33 years. 
We blew off the tour at that point and headed down a set of steps to an area of preserved houses- Sannen-Zaka. It was beautiful- tiled roofs with guardian statues- a real feeling of old Japan before urban development and fires destroyed most of the old buildings. You could almost imagine geishas walking the streets.
We did a complete 180 and headed to Kyoto Station in search of a bottle of wine and a Big Mac. The station was a monstrous building – modern architecture at its worst. Part of the building was an 11- story department store featuring everything from clothing to an upscale food market to a full floor of restaurants and a floor dedicated to the “food court”. It was crass commercialism at its best- and on a Saturday night was mobbed with people. It did, however, provide us with a source for cheap wine and Big Macs!
Our “City Tour” was in the afternoon with all our other new tourist friends- an entire bus filled with tourists. Our first stop was the Heian-jingu (shrine). It was built in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto and was a replica of the Imperial Palace of the Heian period. It had a huge Japanese garden – which the guide assured us looks better in the rain.
Once back on the bus, we headed to the Sanjusangen-do Temple. The name refers to the 33 spaces between the pillars of the building, which houses 1001 statures of the Thousand-Armed Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of Mercy). A huge gilded statue of Kannon is in the center of the building. In front of the statues are the 28 guardians of Buddhism, many derived from the Hindu pantheon.
One last stop was at Kiyomizudera-dera (Temple)- the Clear Water Temple. It was established in 780 by a Buddhist priest from Nara who was commanded in a vision to seek the pure source of the Kizu River. It belongs to the Shingon-Hosso Buddhist sect, dedicated to the worship of Kannon. We got to see the statue of the Buddha that is only shown to the public every 33 years.
We blew off the tour at that point and headed down a set of steps to an area of preserved houses- Sannen-Zaka. It was beautiful- tiled roofs with guardian statues- a real feeling of old Japan before urban development and fires destroyed most of the old buildings. You could almost imagine geishas walking the streets.
We did a complete 180 and headed to Kyoto Station in search of a bottle of wine and a Big Mac. The station was a monstrous building – modern architecture at its worst. Part of the building was an 11- story department store featuring everything from clothing to an upscale food market to a full floor of restaurants and a floor dedicated to the “food court”. It was crass commercialism at its best- and on a Saturday night was mobbed with people. It did, however, provide us with a source for cheap wine and Big Macs!
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