Gyon matsuri and Scarlett moments

If Scarlett could, I can too.

Kyoto stands up to its history as Japan's ancient capital. The number of shrines and temples in the city is simply incredible. You're walking down a small street: woop, there it is. Down a major shopping drag: woop, there it is. We started off the day by recreating "Lost in Translation" moments and heading to Heian Shrine. Tying bad omikuji to a tree is fun as is hopping on the rocks in a Zen pool. Even if one has no idea why she's doing it. Heian is truly impressive for a shrine, much nicer than Meiji Jingu in Tokyo and thanks to Sophia Coppola, much better recognized now.

When in Japan, you have to balance Shinto with Buddhism, otherwise the other gods will get pissed off and throw a curse of bad garlic breath or a curse of inverse flat foot on you. It seems that all Japanese women suffer from it. First the missus noticed what sexy shoes Japanese girls tend to wear (I noticed that in general they have very sexy legs). Then turn around and she noticed most of them walking like Godzilla on a bad acid trip or perhaps a farmhand overloaded with kindling wood for the firepit. There is sure something to it. They do have extreme problems walking straight, twisting their feet inwards quite a lot, wobbling side to side like a cowboy after a long ride and such. Hmm... back to the sightseeing / religious monument description. Chonin Temple was next then, a would-be impressive place nearby Gyon, not for the fact it was being restored (and according to the utmost impressively planned schedule, the detailed Japanese are planning to restore it until 2019). But it had some impressive stairs which we had to climb. Oh how nice it must be to be me, since I actually don't feel muscle pain. Ever!

I want me one of those...

Afterwards we finally made it out to Gy-on, which was actually the entire purpose of coming to Kyoto for this period: Gyon matsuri, aka. the Gyon Festival, is an annual festival of history, food, geisha, maiko, kimono and all the other things that make Kyoto so unique. Hanging out for a few hours just walking the streets and gawking at pretty girls in kimonos was just what the doctor ordered. Add it to it slurping cold beer right on the street (yup, it's completely legal in Japan), munching on green tea ice cream or pear sorbet and you've got me a believer. It's just one of them festivals where there is not much to do except to look at things, eat way too much, drink booze and perhaps try to make friends.

Say "CHIIZU!"

I remember Nixon!

Lunch at a fast food gyoza place proved to be nice enough, but getting stuck in traffic on a bus while trying to reach the Inari Fushimi shrine was not so. What bonehead expected that we could actually get to the outskirts of town with the festival going on? Bleh... not even a honeymoon can go without stressful hitches, and my biggest pet peeve is wasting time while I should be having fun. Will have to work on it, won't we? Was the shrine with 10,000 gates worth it? Well, it was nice enough for sure, but I hate being rushed. So I can't say I appreciated it one hundred percent. Not even enough to post a photo.

My gratuitous schoolgirls in kimonos shot. Yup!

Headed back to the guesthouse, where while having a smoke outside actually met a maiko who was out for a cigarette (and apparently a man too). Just like Kris is being hit up for pictures for being a blondie white girl, I find it a repeating event that every time I linger in a smoking area for more than three minutes, some girl starts chatting to me. Is this why all these American boys participate in a JET program? That's Japanese English Teaching for you non-teachers. Will have to inquire about it. Oh shit... I'm married. I forgot for a moment. Gotto be careful, my wife's reading this too.