Kyoto Tour!

Well, was a scorcher! All our kids were sweating and fanning themselves with their hands as we embarked on our Kyoto Temple Tour.

First stop- Fushimi Inari shrine. Inari is the god of rice and wine, and has long been considered the patron of business. As a result, many companies over the years have donated Torii, large gates, to the site of Inari's worship (Fushimi Inari). Now there are 1000 Torii gates located at Fushimi Inari shrine, all marked with the name of the company that donated it.

We walked through long tunnels of Torii, and before we had to return to the bus, had only made it about half way through the site.

That's a whole lot of gates!

Second stop- Nijo Castle.
The former Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle was used when Kyoto was the capital of Japan. As we walked through the halls, we heard the "Nightingale" squeaks designed to allow the people in the palace to know when an intruder was sneaking through their halls.

Third stop- The beautiful Kinkakuji (golden pavilion)- retirement house of one of Japan's Shoguns. When the Shogun dies, this pavilion was converted into a Zen Buddhist temple.  The top 2 stories are coated in gold leaf ("yes, real gold!"- had to tell the students this many times). The grounds are beautiful and at one point we all tried to do the coin toss- get a coin in the large stone bowl and you get good luck. Get it in the small metal bowl and you get super good luck! After many tries, the only student I can remember seeing do it, was Julie.

Final stop- After lunch we headed for Kiyomizudera (pure water temple), one of Japan's most celebrated temples. The students walked around the grounds, tested their strength by lifting heavy metal poles, and ambled down the long shopping street in front of the temple.

Can't believe it's gone so fast, but today is our last day in Japan!