Kyoto Day 6

The Lord may have rested on the seventh day, but our family needed some on the sixth. :-) After five days of nonstop go go go, we needed a chill day. So instead of temple hopping, we walked over to the nerby Teramachi/Shinkyogoku Shopping district to walk through the historic, fish market of Nishiki. We wisely chose to do this on a day when the city population probably doubles in anticipation of the Gion Matsuri...so we got to shimmy our way down the narrow, half-mile long or so walkway with no less than about 43,9342 other sweaty Japanese people. And in 90+ degree heat with 85% humidity, let me tell you how awesome that felt. 

Before I post my Nishiki pictures, I wanted to say that this market is a special place for me. Every Friday night for nearly three years (after work, but before meeting Mika & her father for an English lesson at their nearby dental office), I would slowly walk through this market to kill time. There's no where else like it in Kyoto- pickled vegetables, fresh and dried fish, colorful somen noodles... I love it. In many ways, it really felt like 'coming home' walking through it- the familiar sights, smells and loud calls of "Irrashimase!" ringing out from all directions welcoming you.

The only new addition to Nishiki that I found- a colorful, delightful, whimsical shop selling amongst other things- make your own mobiles!

A timeless favorite for all- baby octopus skewers (the heads are quail eggs)...and only $2.50 each!!! People were snatching those babies (pun intended) up. Yum! (Not.) ;-)

Love little dried fish on your rice each day? There are plenty of samples to tempt you! I may not be a fan...but I do love everything about this presentation.

More dried little fishes, this time by the gram. Fill 'er up!

Once made it through Nishiki, we walked over to Daimaru to check out their stationer floor (we were always in search for origami/washi paper for my mother or Shinkansen stickers for Ryan). Each of the elevator girls (because heaven forbid we have to press our floor buttons or listen for our floor ourselves) were all donning colorful yukata for the festival. I made one very amusing gaffe that day- when an elevator girl called out for floors, instead of yelling "Rokkai!" (for 6th floor), I told Ryan and Rich to call out "Roku-sai!" (6 years old). So while everyone else politely called out their floors, they got to hear the dumb-dumb gaijin (foreigners) call out "6 years old!" repeatedly since no one really understood what the heck we were saying. :-)

One of our elevator girls. Not six years old either.

Rich had been craving sushi in Japan (which he had at least three times there), but my craving was for okonomiyaki and yakisoba. It's hard to describe okonomiyaki...it's kind of like a cabbage-filled pancake topped with variety of goodies- bacon, bonito flakes, ginger, mayo, green onions and okonomiyaki sauce. I can still taste it on my tongue! It's typically served with yakisoba (cooked noodles and veggies). We found a small dive in Teramachi with a huge set meal- okonomiyaki, yakisoba, 2 musubi, tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and miso soup and inhaled it all.

My favorite Japanese foods, hands down!

Waiting out a terrible rainstorm in Teramachi and amusing ourselves

Because it was all festival week, half the town was decked out in gorgeous, colorful yukata.

Even though it was a 'rest day' and we swore we'd only be gone 'a few' hours, I think we were gone for over 6. It's hard to rest in such a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly city. :-)