Sayonara Kyoto

14 and 15 March, 2015

B on Sanjo bridge

Win on Sanjo bridge

Saturday was drizzly, with a biting chill, so we thought Nishiki Market would be a fine indoor walk.  We have described it in earlier journals, but it is unfailingly colorful and fascinating.  Only about half the food is familiar to me.  And I could never figure out how one choses which pickles to buy, since there are literally hundreds of kinds…Luckily you can get lots of free tastes.  Sadly not the season for Ume (pickled plums, my favorite).  If I had a chance to live here again, I would definitely take cooking classes!  Then I would know how to prepare all the sorts of fish etc (including tiny whole squid and cod testicles, to name a few).  We had a fine sushi lunch and some sweet roasted chestnuts.  Then back home for a bit before meeting our dear friend Akiko for dinner.  

We had a delicious dinner with many courses, some roasted on the table including fresh bamboo shoots (abundant at this time of year), a fine dish of rice and bamboo shoots, excellent matcha ice cream with special sweetened black beans (for New Years I think).  After dinner Akiko took us on a surprise journey to Shoren-in Temple which was having an evening light up in the gardens.  I had remembered the magnificent camphor trees out in front, but had never seen the garden.  The lighting up is quite magical, especially the lit up bamboo grove and the small shrine devoted to people about to take a journey.  The pond and rock islands also looked sublime in the soft light.  Always sad to say good bye.

Today I went to the crafts flea market at the Chionen temple - always a marvel of clever and cute little things.  Win kindly stayed behind to clean the apartment.  We leave in about half an hour for the interminable trip home, Boston being 13 hours behind Kyoto, and from what I read we should expect snow!

I hope we will be back again, and with a bit more time to visit some parts of Japan we have yet to see.  Japan definitely is a part of us that we will carry home and treasure.

We will see everyone soon and send love.

Kamogawa on 14 March