{"id":13477,"date":"2018-05-01T18:05:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T16:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/?p=13477"},"modified":"2018-05-01T18:07:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T16:07:28","slug":"four-days-kyoto-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/eu\/four-days-kyoto-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Four days in Kyoto, Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve always wanted to return to Japan, and even more so during cherry blossom season. Although this blog focuses on Italy and Europe, I asked my colleague Helen Farrell, Editor in Chief of The Florentine, to write up an itinerary when she returned from a recent trip to Japan, gloating about her four floral days in Kyoto. These are her words.<\/em>
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Kyoto<\/strong> is a bucket-list destination. Clouds of cherry blossom floating along the Kamo river, Buddhist temples teetering over green hillsides and kimonos of all patterns and shades worn by locals and Westerners alike. A trip to Kyoto is all of this and much more.<\/p>\n

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Kimono watching in Maruyama Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Kimono watching in Southern Higashiyama<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Crossing the bridge into Gion<\/strong> is like stepping back in time. First up are the traditional wooden storefronts that line Shijo Street<\/strong> with their touristy fare, teahouses and restaurants. Then suddenly the striking red Yasaka Shrine<\/strong> appears at the end of the long avenue and the countryside of Kyoto begins. With its ponds populated with koi carp, Maruyama Park<\/strong> is a pretty place to spot hanami<\/em> in action, the furore among locals as the spring blossom begins to flourish. Mentioning all the temples worth visiting would turn this post into a listicle; our approach was atypical.<\/p>\n

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Kiyomizu dera temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We wandered around Southern Higashiyama, the only Westerners ostensibly taking part in the Shinto purification ceremony at Kiyomizu-dera<\/strong>, the striking temple at the highest point of the long and rambling shop-filled alleyway called Chawan-zaka<\/strong>. Resisting the kimono-hire places (with hindsight we should have done the dressing-up thing and immortalized it on Instagram like all the locals!), Kodai-ji<\/strong> called to us with its zen gardens.<\/p>\n

Nibbling at Kyoto Nishiki Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Now I understand a little more about Japanese food thanks to the fabulous Nishiki Market tour by @contexttravel (thanks @arttrav and @arttrav_food for organizing | article coming soon! #nishiki #kyoto #japan #japanesefood<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Helen Farrell<\/a> (@helencfarrell) on