Kyoto!!

A couple days after Bobby arrived we hopped a high-speed train (that left at exactly 06:36) with a big, long nose that Bobby loved and headed for Kyoto. There are 6,000 shrines and temples in Kyoto. We still need to see 5,995 of them but we feel like we made a substantial dent. We also feel like after a while, every Buddhist temple looks the same. But it was an all-around fantastic trip. We arrived at the Kyoto train station, got our luggage delivered to the hotel (which I was very proud of communicating with my three words of Japanese) and hit the ground running. The highlight was staying in traditional Japanese inns or "ryokans." Our first ryokan in Kyoto had its own little Zen garden and when we woke up in the morning (or rather, when the little geisha who minded our room woke us up at the butt crack of dawn), we saw that the garden was sprinkled with white snow that had started falling in the morning. It wasn't too cold, just enough to make the temples and the city even more magical than it already was. Bobby became a huge fan of the Japanese cotton yukata (or casual kimonos) they provide for guests to wear, and the baths that they drew us every night. They're in these big, huge hot tubs and smell of jasmine. The rooms come with a 10-course meal served to us in the room and a traditional Japanese breakfast. They were delicious (well, some of the courses were weird, but most were delicious). The only problem was that after eating all those courses, we still had the urge to pop open the Pringles or run to the "convini" (i.e. convenience store) and get a Snickers....After a day and a half of sight-seeing in Kyoto, we took a long bus ride to the leafy suburb of Arashayama, where a flowing river runs through steep, snow-covered hills. We stayed at the foot of one of the hills, in another traditional Japanese inn. Bobby wore his shoes on the tatami and I thought they were going to throw us out right then and there. It was as if he took a dump on the coffee table. These people at the hotel FREAKED out. But it turned out okay...at least, I think it did. Who knows what they were saying behind our back. Anyway, all our translation (both language and cultural) problems melted away when we took a dip in the "onsen" (or Japanese hot spring). Natural mineral water is pumped out of volcanic wells underground and used in these outdoor baths. We walked outside to the bath and we were freezing. It was below zero and snowing. But then we got in the water and your entire body warms up. I've never seen Bobby so relaxed. It was as if someone slipped a xanax into his sushi. He just lay there like a zombie. It was a nice change for both of us to feel so incredibly relaxed. I'll tell ya, the Japanese have a few things figured out. So, we got back into our traditional clothes, and the beds had been laid out on the tatami mat floor...It was just perfect....And to top it all off we saw a perfectly clear view of Mt. Fuji on the way back!