We are all getting used to our little Airbnb and Kyoto neighborhood. Tuesday was cold and windier than forecast. But we saw the rain coming so planned to do an indoor Sumo demonstration and lunch. On our way we planned to stop at a local coffee shop, but we keep running into the problem that the local shops are closed most of the time, so we ended up at a Starbucks to escape the wind and warm up a bit.

The Sumo event was part educational and part entertainment with a hot pot lunch held at the “Sumo Stable” located in the middle of a large outdoor-but-covered shopping mall on the 5th floor of an office building.

It was fun! The Sumo wrestlers are retired because of injuries, but they still love the sport. Our somewhat gimpy pair of wrestlers were still strong although no longer heavy weights. They demonstrated techniques and put on a show. In a strange, “it’s-a-small-world-after-all” twist the Master of Ceremonies was a skinny, Japanese-speaking, Italian.

There were also two geisha dancers. And then we all played a kind of “rock, paper scissors game” but with Samurai, tiger, & old woman. Everyone in the audience played the game and James won!

Eventually, they did a bit of a real three set match. The show ended with 8 audience volunteers taking on the Sumos. A few big guys thought they might have a chance (they didn’t) but the really cute part of the show were the kids, who all wore inflatable sumo outfits and won every match!

On the way home we tried to avoid the cold wind in the covered shopping area and found the Kit Kat motherload with the “72% Dark Chocolate” Kit Kats not available in the states.

We made it back but Jim was exhausted, unfortunately, and feeling the beginning of a cold. So Jim took a nap and James and I went out for a walk about and got some more breakfast stuff at the local grocery store. It’s always a fun way to get to know a new country and culture.

When we got back Jim was not up for joining us for dinner, so James and I went out again. The wind had died down and the evening air was still cold, but still. The two of us had a lovely date, and James picked out an Italian restaurant on the central Kyoto canal. I loved our dinner and discussion. We brought Jim back some pasta and some margarita pizza. On our way back we decided to stop and get him some ice cream too. As you all know this is again one of Jim’s favorite food groups.

The TV in our Airbnb is quite old and we couldn’t stream anything or screen share. We asked the proprietor about it and he ended up buying an AppleTV. So we all watched Blazing Saddles and laughed a lot before going to sleep..

Biking Tour:

On Wednesday, we signed up for an Old Kyoto E-Bike tour. We hoped for sun and no wind and that is was we got! The day started early and we needed a cab to get to the bike rental shop to begin our tour. We used an Uber and the pick up worked out perfectly, but the drop-off was confusing because the driver dropped us off close to the bike shop but couldn’t explain how we could get there, and our phone directions sent us off in the wrong direction. I had insisted we leave early in case something didn’t work out perfectly, so we had time to get lost a bit before we called and found our way to the bike shop. James doesn’t ride bikes often and this was his first e-bike experience but he did a great job over the 5 hour tour. The day started at 9 and we biked through an interesting twisting part of the old city. The tour included stops at two Buddhist Temples and one Shinto Shrine before sharing lunch at a little ramen restaurant.

This time of year, as expected, the flowers are beautiful and I’m glad we are here to see them, the temperature is warmer, but it is, as expected, very crowded.

The “Golden Shrine” was quite beautiful. Our group included the three of us, two other couples and our guide Jay. Jay did a great job. We learned some new things and we only had one person get lost. Unfortunately, that was Jim. Jim was at the end of line, and wasn’t able to turn right across a busy street because of the traffic, so he didn’t see everyone making a second right immediately after crossing the busy street. So Jim just kept going straight until it was obvious he had lost the group. After a couple of phone calls, texted pin drops that didn’t go through, and our guide telling Jim to stay where he was instead of coming back to the busy street, finally one of our fellow bikers asked me why I didn’t just use “Find My” app to find Jim. That worked! Jim was only a few blocks away. Personally, I was just glad it was Jim and not James. From then on, Jim rode directly behind the guide. Actually, Jim did such a great job. It was a very long day of biking and there was a lot more walking than we anticipated. But we all had a great time.

We left our place at 8:15am and returned at 3:30pm. All of us needed a bit of a break. Jim and I used the outdoor hot tub first and felt much better.

We ended our day with another walk to dinner and stumbled onto a restaurant that just opened that day. One of the employees sold us on giving it a try on their “soft opening”. It was a Halal Wagyu Raman Restaurant. We weren’t craving another Raman meal, but our hearts were with these small business owners and they were so pleased we came in. We were the second group they served that day. The broth, wagyu meat, fried chicken and noodles were yummy and if you scanned the QR code to leave a review you also got a free matcha. James especially like the Japanese fried chicken.

Taking a local train to the Giant Buddhist Temple in Nara is next on the agenda for Thursday, our last full day in Kyoto.

James:

The Sumo wrestling was a fun experience. In the prematch I was trying to follow the end of the men’s basketball national championship when Grandma said that if I didn’t put the game away she would “Throw my phone away”. Sports have taken the back seat anyway because we’re with Grandma and because, as any Mariners fan knows right now, things have been pretty depressing. The wrestlers weren’t very big, but they were good entertainers, and we had a great time. The margarita pizza they served at dinner was great. Ramen is great, but it is safe to say I am starting to get a little sick of it. Plus, no trip is complete without some Italian food, even if we’ve now had it twice.

E-biking was another great activity. Those bikes are powerful, so it took some getting used to. I got the hang of it though, and despite the uncomfortable seat, I had a good time. It was fun to get on a bike again. The Golden Temple was really cool too. I enjoyed the outdoor tub (which is a one person hot tub, and even then it’s a little cramped). To end the day we watched “You Only Live Twice” with Sean Connery as James Bond. It is set in Japan, with some Sumo wrestling at the beginning, so it was fun to watch while in Japan.

Jim:

The Buddhist Temples we visited next all charged admission and were very crowded, even after we got past the admission gate. This is the disadvantage of coming in spring instead of winter. The Golden Temple was beautiful, surrounded by a beautiful pond and gardens. The Zen Garden and Bamboo Forest Temple was a very large property but the most crowded, so it was difficult to find any tranquility there in April. When we visited it the first time, over 10 years ago, it was late January, so a lot colder, but not crowded at all. I actually enjoyed the Buddhist Temples in the winter season a lot more.

But I am loving my time in Kyoto with my travel buddies and looking forward to traveling to Nara and showing James the Giant Buddha there on Thursday!