Emmas Blog 3
Kyoto
So different to Tokyo, Berlin to its Berne. Hard to capture the spiritual sense of the place, especially in 32C heat, so I toned down the focus and tried to simply take it in. We stayed in a Riyokan, or traditional inn. While some creature comforts are more recent introductions (I’m thinking of the beer vending machine in the lobby), much of the experience would have been familiar to a visitor 100 years ago. Emma will write about the food, Sophie about sharing a room with her Dad snoring ( we were in a 7 tatami room all together, sleeping in futons.) Kyoto is part of the modern world, but there is always a sense in the air of it being a calmer place, a place where culture lives. For foreigners like us, something very different, and something many Japanese no longer get to experience. I loved it