There had been an optional trip to Kyoto on the Saturday following the first week of classes. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I made my way to school for the pre-departure meeting. We were split up into groups before making our way to Kyoto.
By the time my groups (as well as any other groups) made it to Kyoto, we were ready for our late lunch. We went to a kaiten-zushi place, where the sushi was rotated on a conveyor belt. This also happened to be the first time I had sushi since the third grade and it wasn’t as bad as it was back then. My favorite was the tamagoyaki sushi, which consisted of a slice of tamagoyaki (a rolled Japanese omelet) on rice.
Since it was late afternoon by the time we finished lunch, we were only able to make it to one place in Kyoto. Fortunately, it was one of the top places that I wanted to see while I was in Japan: the Fushimi Inari Shrine.
This shrine was incredible, and we barely made a dent in seeing the entire shrine. I don’t think there are any words to describe how amazing this shrine is. When people say that this is a great place to visit if you can make it to Kyoto, they aren’t kidding. Even if you don’t make your way up the mountain, it is still an amazing experience. The architecture is beautiful, and the rows of torii are incredible.
While many of the booths lining the streets were closed or in the process of closing, there were a few booths that were selling the last of their food. One of them was selling azuki taiyaki and custard taiyaki, which I managed to get my hands on. All in all, I’ll definitely make it back here if I can get the time! 🙂