Kyoto

This morning I woke just after 3am (7am New Zealand time). I had trouble getting back to sleep, so I turned on the TV and watched it on and off till just after 6am. I then got up and wandered down the street to an old-fashioned little coffee shop I'd spotted the day before for breakfast. The toast, boiled egg, salad, and coffee cost me 500 yen. During breakfast I was kept amused by the antics of the proprietor (an old guy) as well as those of a couple of young Australian women at another table, who argued loudly and ended up leaving without eating much of their breakfast at all.

Erik and I had arranged to meet at my hotel at 10am, but he rang and came earlier, at around 9.30am. We watched a bit of baseball on TV (the Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was pitching for the Boston Red Sox, Erik's home team) before heading off to an Internet café, where Erik checked his email and blogged. We'd discovered the number on Erik's mobile phone was different to the one he'd been given before leaving the US, so he had to email all his friends to let them know the new number.

Just after 10.30am we left to see the Jidai Matsuri, or Festival of the Ages. Along the way we picked up a couple of bento, which we ate near the Hearton Hotel Kyoto, where I'd stayed during my last visit to Kyoto. After a coffee (bought from a nearby convenience store), we found a spot along the parade route and settled in. We had to wait a further hour or so for the parade to start. The procession itself lasted about an hour and a half. I took lots of photos, but it was a bit monotonous and got quite boring towards the end.

After the parade had ended we walked down to nearby Sanjo Ohashi bridge, the starting point of the Nakasendo in Kyoto. Actually we went to the wrong bridge at first, but we soon realized our mistake and found the right one.

Next we popped into a coffee shop and sat down to talk over the schedule for the following day, the first day of actual walking, including sorting out which tasks we were going to perform and how we were going to handle the collaging part of the art project. That done, we visited Takashimaya department store to stock up on nuts (we'd earlier bought some dried fruits and nuts at a cake ingredient supply store).

By this time we'd heard from John Wells, a friend of Erik's who lived in Kyoto, and had arranged to have dinner together that evening. We met at Kyoto Station and ate at a nearby restaurant. We parted at 8.30pm and I went back to my hotel to pack. My legs were slightly sore, not from walking, but from standing for over two and a half hours watching the Jidai Matsuri! My blisters felt fine, though.