Kansai, Japan
Had quite a big end to the Takayama trip so was nice to chill and eat loads in Kyoto & Osaka. Didn't get up to that much but did lots of walking and enjoying the fall colours.
Kyoto
Arrived quite late so we went for a quick family mart dinner.
Day 2
Kyoto is famous for having lots of shrines and temples so we spent the day exploring.
Fushimi Inari: (thousand tori gates) - This was very touristy but the further we walked up the less busy it got and was quite peaceful to walk around.
Kiyomizu-dera: A huge buddhist temple set on high ground above the city.
Byodoin: A smaller buddhist temple in Uji by the river which was cool to walk around.
For dinner we had Eel (Unagi) recommended to us by someone, was tasty!
Day 3
Kyoto botanical garden & Kamo river walk: We'd aimed to walk to a cafe to get omurice but they sold out as we got there, so settled for a and hamburger curry scranned on the street.
Philosophers walk: Another autumn leaves walk.
Tempura for dinner & a beatles themed record/listening bar for a couple of cocktails. You could request music but they didn't have any of the songs I requested.
Osaka
Day 1
Shinsaibashi: Spent the first day doing a bit of shopping - we both bought goggles for skiing ⛷️. In the afternoon we went to an English style pub chain called HUB, very similar to spoons, and enjoyed a few pints of guinness. Then went for a stroll around Dotonburi & the famous streets.
For dinner we had Osaka famous okonomiyaki and kushikatsu 😋. Then we head to another listening bar for some whiskey highballs - a fun eve!
Day 2
The next day we were a little hungover but made it out to the Ramen Expo and tried 4 different styles of ramen 🍜.
In the eve we attempted going to a Christmas market but it was a 40 min queue for drinks so we sacked it and went for dinner at an izakaya. I tried shirako (the sperm sacs of male cod) - it was so gross but the chef was watching so we had to finish it 😅
