Around Kyoto Station

As I said in another post, we have a pretty awesome view from our hotel window. The bathroom may be musty and have clear sings of mold, but we can see To-ji Temple if we hang out the window enough.

The view from our window

And at night

On Tuesday night I was set on taking some night photos. We had dinner at a barbecue place in the train station. I didn't think I would ever say I ate dinner at a train station and it was great. But here I go. Kyoto station has had a major face lift and has a huge number of restaurants to eat at. Just be aware, they were all super busy and some even had lines! So we shared some goyza, okinonimyaki and yakisoba. All delicious!

I started my photos with Kyoto station. On the upper floors there is a light display, which we happened upon on our first night in town. Unfortunately camera-less. So camera and tripod in hand I took some great photos of people standing in the middle of the light display on the stairs. Thanks guys, I always wanted a photo of a Japanese temple with some flowers and people silhouettes! Why not come down and take photos from the bottom where you can see the picture, rather than half way up. Seriously thought, I wasn't too worried about it. Just concerned their photos are going to suck.
After a few quick shots of the city from the top balcony, we headed outside to take a quick picture of Kyoto Tower. Well, the reflection of Kyoto Tower in the windows of the train station. I was all set up to take the photo when a Japanese man came up to me and asked me something in Japanese. It must have been "can I be in your photo?" because when I said "oh keep walking it's ok", he jumped in front of the camera for me to take his picture.

If only he had stood still instead of jiggling around!

On the way back to the hotel, we swung by To-ji Temple, with the intention of taking photos from outside. They must open the grounds at night during cherry blossom season because it was open. I was super glad we didn't bother paying to enter the other day when we walked past because it is so much more beautiful at night! If it's open at night when you're near it, definitely go. I got some pretty awesome shots of the temple, with some just opening cherry trees! What an awesome night!

Absolutely stunning!