Good Food and Views are Worth the Journey
It’s possible to get an overload of temples in Kyoto. And with beautiful sites easily accessible, the imperial gardens of Shugakuin and Katsura Villa may be overlooked by non-Japanese tourists. Certainly if you have a shortage of time, you may not want to allocate two hours to the imperial sites. However, I certainly think they are worth a visit - the landscaping is remarkable. These were residences after all, of Japan’s former royal families.
Between the two, Shugakuin is...
I was fooled. I ordered what I thought was a minced pork ramen at Mamezen and found out even the “meat” was made of soy. This vegetarian ramen restaurant makes its noodles from soy, its broth from soy milk and of course, as it turns out, its garnishing from soy and other vegetables. Taste-wise, I don’t think you’d realize that the meal was soy based other than from the milky appearance of the soup. My husband, a major carnivore, and I were both amazed by the richness of the broth....
Here are some photos from my walk in Kanazawa’s Kenroku-en, known as one of Japan’s three great gardens. I was there in December when there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. It must also be beautiful now in May with the flowers in bloom.
