Kyoto Photo: Leaving Kyoto

October 6, 2012 –

It's time to pack up and leave Kyoto.  I know, I know….there's so much more that we could see here!  We're really sad to have to go but sadly tomorrow morning we fly home from Nagoya.  

One last look at the Yamazaki Inn:

In the window of the inn there are very realistic food displays- examples of food you can order from their restaurant.

At the bus stop…waiting for the JR Bus #3 to take us to the Kyoto train station.

Glasses make the man's image and tell eye-life.

Waiting to buy bullet – or "burret"- train tickets back to Nagoya. 

Wandering around close to our train terminal….Ooo!!!There's a coffee shop so let's grab some coffee drinks to go.

And here's a book store:

Do you see what's different about these books? What side is the binding on? The book opens up completely different from the way we're used to!

Waiting and waiting….and waiting a little bit more for our train to arrive:

Hahaha!!!! I think Annika might be done with the photo taking!

I'm enjoying my coffee while waiting in a closed in seating area.

Finally on the Shinkansen….racing back to Nagoya.

We've made it back to the Nagoya train station.  Mark just spotted the Krispy Kreme sign….and it appears that the "Hot Now" sign is lit up!!!  How about we grab some donuts before we check into the Nagoya Marriott (which happens to be right next to this giant mall).

Which one will you choose??????

Here's what we picked out:

Bummer – the Hot Now sign was lit but there weren't any hot donuts coming off the conveyor belt. 🙁 Oh well. There are worse things. How about a custard filled Halloween donut???

We've checked in to the hotel…and the same lady who helped us TREMENDOUSLY on our previous stay (she got our suitcase back!!!) checked us in.  Plus, we're in the EXACT SAME ROOM as last time!!!!  

Ava in her Krispy Kreme hat. Eating sprinkles. Ava seems to enjoy the frosting more that the donut!

View out our hotel room:

Now, it's early enough in the day and we could try and see some sights here in Nagoya.  There's some interesting castle (Nagoya Castle) that isn't too far away from the hotel but guess what???? We're really too tired of racing around cities and towns.  I think we'll lay low today.  Plus, we read that the castle isn't actually the original structure (it's been rebuilt).  

Anyway, let's go check out the hotel pool!  This time we're leaving the cameras and iphones behind. …..Huh.  FYI- NO jewelry allowed in the pool.  Including stud earrings!  What the heck??? No, I'm not taking out mine!  Oh, and if you've got a tattoo….guess what?  You're not welcome to swim in this hotel pool!!!  Seriously?????!!!!?  I mean, I like this hotel but come on!  How many Westeners have tattoos today?  Seems rather strict to me!  Maybe I'll jump in the sauna – I'm feeling a little chilled.  Eeep.  Never mind.  I'm sorry but I don't feel like getting undressed in front of a bunch of beautiful looking Japanese women.  Sorry.  What a way to help your hotel guests feel absolutely horrible about themselves.  Blech.  Never mind.  I really don't need our nice vacation to take a nose dive!

Mark and the girls had a nice, long swim in the pool.  I went up to the room to take a very nice and very hot shower.  Ahhhhhhhh…..I feel better!!!!

Now, how about some dinner????  We're in the mood for sushi!!!!!  We've promised ourselves that we'd get sushi while in Japan.  This is our last chance!  Somebody told Mark that one of the buildings close to the hotel had several good sushi restaurant in it.  Well, we couldn't find that exact restaurant but we did find one.  

Yum, yum, yum!!!! Such lovely sushi!

Miso soup…with clams!

The beautiful clams from our miso soup:

Have you ever heard of gum syrup???

I picked some up in the coffee shop in Kyoto. It's sweet! (it's a clear liquid sweetener)

Nighty night!  Tomorrow we head back home!