Memoirs of a Geisha Gawker

Arriving in Kyoto yesterday, it felt not as if we are visiting another country, but as if we've entered a new world. I can easily say that Kyoto is officially the most amazing place I've ever visited in my life.

My only prerequisite for which ryokan we stayed at was that it had an Internet site. I got a little scared a few days before we arrived, when I Googled it to find the location, and I got this message: "We are sorry. It closes for a while." I emailed them to find that, luckily, it was just the website that was "closed."

Kyoto has many busy thoroughfares, but behind them are quiet, narrow streets where you have to be careful not to get hit by a bicycle. Our ryokan was tucked away on one such street. I will say that one of these inns may seem a bit more charming if you don't spend the previous night in a king-sized bed, but we still managed to sleep more here than we have anywhere else yet on this trip (after our in-room breakfast feast, we slept in til 11.) At night the streets are illuminated by paper lanterns, and the Japanese writing beautifully accents the lamps and cloth that hang in most doorways.

Yesterday we left our hotel around noon and commenced walking... and walking. In fact, we arrived back at our hotel last night at 9 p.m. We walked solidly from noon to 6:30 before we stopped for dinner. We spent the day temple and park hopping. Our first stop was at the Kiyomisu-dera temple, which apparently is petitioning to become one of the new wonders of the world, and I do believe it should be. First off, we are so fortunate to be here while the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The trees dot the landscape everywhere you look. We spent a good few hours wandering around the grounds, going up and down stone paths and stairways. We spotted a few Geisha, who were literally swarmed by tourists acting as paparazzi. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. They still managed to keep a demure composure and smiled slightly and bowed each time.

One of the funniest experiences we had, I spotted a Geisha walking on a side street with a young white guy, so I nudged Bryan to get a shot of her. She leaned in in a more spunky, less demure way and smiled big for the camera and then said in the most American accent "Can you like take one with our camera now?" Apparently she paid to get all dressed up. They were from Hawaii. One of the reasons we feel so far away is also the lack of American tourists. On a nine-hour walk yesterday, I heard just four Americans. It adds to the feeling of being more removed, though, and I have to say I kind of dig it.


We've been forced to stick with menus with pictures of food, since most menus don't have any English on them, which makes every meal an adventure. One of the best treats I had, after the temples and the parks, was a little stand on Shijo-dori selling Takosen. It looked similar to a taco, so I figured I couldn't go wrong at least trying it. It also had an adorable handwritten sign next to it that read "Very Derisious." The "shell" was more of a prawn cracker/communion host type consistency, with some more crunchy white bits inside, and what I gather was a fried octopus pattie with some crunchy green bits and a white sauce and a brown sauce. For 300 yen (less than three bucks), it totally ruled.


Later on our walk we decided to stop at this restaurant which had one thing on the menu, okonomiyaki, which is dubbed a Japanese version of pizza. You walk in and hold up a finger or two letting them know how many you want. Bryan and I each had one, which was really more than I needed. This "pizza" consisted of a folded pancake with tiny shrimps, raw egg, green stuff and white stuff. I did manage to eat half of it, though I wouldn't describe myself as satisfied when we finished. We promptly hit another cafe on the walk home for coffee and dessert before stopping at a few more shops hidden in this shopping arcade near our hotel. We have more than earned our trip to a Tokyo Pizza Hut, if one exists. We rolled onto our floor mats and got a good night's sleep before getting back on the bullet train to Tokyo and arriving at our much fancier Japanese hotel, complete with king-sized bed and in-room Internet access. It is here we will spend our last two nights in Tokyo before heading back to NY.