After picking up Ry from school (that's him, by the way, in the shadows of the stairwell heading up to class), we joined Mika's family for lunch at a sushi restaurant near the school. We met there about five years ago, which was was another walk down memory lane.
After a kaiten sushi lunch, the boys hung out at Third Planet, where Ryan tried his best to win an Evee (no success).
The boys stayed with us through dinner, as we really wanted them to try the ramen shop near our apartment. We thought it was pretty fantastic, but they assured us that we had no idea what we were missing out on at the station near Ryan's school. And they were right...we ended up going there three times during our trip!
The next day, because a prior attempt to visit Arashiyama with the boys ended in rain/thunder, my mom and I dropped Ryan off at school, and then quickly headed back over there. We were headed to the famous bamboo forest groove, a place I'd somehow managed to miss over the years.
Arashiyama is one of the finest 'villages' Kyoto has to offer, in my opinion. I'm a bit biased, since I lived very near there...but what's not to love? The famous bridge across the river, the monkey park, the bamboo grove, Tenryuji temple grounds and the many charming craft stores and restaurants make it a full-day experience, if you've got the time.
The bamboo forest grove was as reported by other visitors- a touch disappointing, but still well worth a visit. The reality doesn't quite match up to the images you see online captured when the lighting is perfect, the grounds are empty and the area is lush and thick with bamboo. It took a little bit of effort to get the pictures we did, making it look much less crowded than it was. And yet, our experience in summer was much less crowded than the usual mayhem in cooler months, so in a strange way, we were...lucky? ;-)
We also went to a temple with one of the prettiest gardens in Kyoto- I can only imagine how stunning the gardens must be in fall! We paid for the garden-tour portion of the temple. Because we've seen so many 'Zen' styled temples and their stark, peaceful beauty, I wasn't tempted to see more empty tatami rooms. Instead, we spent a solid hour in the garden, and we were stunned at the beauty within. They were also *much* less crowded than the grooves.
Since we had to go back and meet Ryan after school, we had to leave around lunch, but I will say that one of the best pictures of the day came from on our walk back out. It's a portion of the grove closed to the general public, unless you pay to ride the private, human-pulled rickshaw. It's a little disappointing, given that capitalism rears its ugly head even within a contemplative walking path, but worth the peek.
The trip back to Arashiyama reignited my fondness for this little village, and I knew I'd be back with Ryan & Yuri in a few days. :-)
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