KYOTO, DAY 2

I didn’t note yesterday that we got our breakfast at M’s Café, just around the corner from the hotel, on Oike-dori. It’s a small space that’s part of a sports shop, with maybe half a dozen white tables set up on a platform just outside the counter area. We ordered a “morning set” that is toast (wedges of white bread, cut like pieces of cake) with butter and jam, and a small dish of very good salad (greens, tomato, potatoes) and caffe latte. We liked it so much we went back for more of the same again this morning.

The charming staff at M's Cafe, our breakfast place. (my photo)

Yesterday as we were ordering we got into conversation with a woman from Michigan who has lived here for 23 years, and invited her to join us. That was a very smart move on our part, since she had several suggestions for things we might do—the river walk among them. This morning we followed another of her suggestions and walked to Nijo-jo, a castle built in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that ruled Japan for almost 300 years.
Entrance to Nijo-j0.

We walked slowly through the Ninomaru Palace, listening to the “nightingale floors”—wooden floors crafted to creak in a variety of tones so that no one could approach the Shogun unnoticed—and looking at the magnificent paintings on the paper walls in room after room. Tbey included tigers and leopards, wonderful twisted pine trees, and many birds (hawks, peacocks, pheasants among them). Unfortunately no photographs are allowed. Each of the rooms we looked into had a very specific purpose—where messengers were received, for instance, or visiting dignitaries.

From the Palace we wandered through exquisitely beautiful grounds and gardens, and climbed large stone stairs to peer down on the moat. It was hot but we walked slowly and sat for awhile in some shade, before heading to the souvenir shop to look at post cards and cool off in the air conditioning.