Kyoto The Imperial Palace, Fish Market and Museums

I don't think I like Kyoto. It rained most of the day which didn't matter except it was dull and uninspiring. When we went to the Imperial Palace there is only natural light so it just looked old and dark.  To top it off it was like a conga line going through. Beatrice did her best to be thorough but with everyone around us I just wanted to get out of there. The architecture was interesting. the building was made in a flying geese pattern to maximize light, give privacy, protect from fire and slow the progress of invaders.  I can imagine in the olden days that each room would be lovely looking over the gardens. They had gravel all around the house so no one could sneak up without being heard and the floors were built to squeak for the same reason.  They only had one small charcoal pot to warm the room and access to natural hot springs in winter was important to help stay warm.

At any rate I was glad to move onto the fish market. There were lots of different kinds of crabs, (some $65 each), huge snails and fish I had never seen before.  We went to a small sushi diner that was a marvel of conveyor belt organization.  We were the only white people there and everyone was good about helping us figure out how it all worked.  It was the freshest and best sushi any of us had ever had. It re invigorated us to go onto the Noh Museum to see the masks.  We could get dressed up in the actors costumes to see and feel how it is for them to move around the stage. It was great fun.

Then onto the  Museum of Contemporary Art. There were installations from 14 artists from different countries. I couldn't take pictures which was too bad because some of them were really colourful and entertaining.  It took us quite a while to get through it and we needed a tea break afterwards.  Met up with others at a tea shop overlooking the gallery garden with Judy Collins playing in the background on a great stereo system.  By the time we left it was getting dark. All the stores on the way had their Christmas decorations up.  I'm not ready for them. There was hardly time before we took taxies to an all you could eat american style buffet. The food was ok and there were lots of young Japanese families around. Ted also brought his daughter. Good way to end the day.