- Up early, a nice breakfast at the hotel of grilled fish and little bowls of pickles, mushrooms, soups and the like, then out in the early morning sunshine for a photo walk with MBW!
- Naraijuku was stunning, the morning light and the residual snow making everything look amazing. Really great walk up and down the main street, off to visit the now-famous wooden bridge, side paths to visit a temple and the local cemetery. A very relaxing and scenic walk.
- Back to check out, grab bags and head back to the train station. Long ride to Kyoto, sans ekiben. I passed the time by trying to take as many photos of the station signs everywhere we passed, until squeezing in a quick nap.
- Arriving in Kyoto, grabbed a taxi to the hotel. The hotel was in a great location and was attached to a renovated temple, so had an interesting vibe. The lady working the check in desk invited us to try a touch kiosk for checking in, which had so many interesting UI elements that she also seemed confused by how it was meant to be working. We eventually worked it out, and we were in!
- Next on the agenda, something MBW was really looking forward to – the MiPig Café.
- It’s an animal café where you get to sit and play with a bunch of miniature pigs, who were very cute!! A few especially liked using my big toe as a scratching post under their chin, and their little oinks of satisfaction were a delight.
- Post-café, went for a walk around a shopping district to look for something for dinner. We found a very well-rated okonomiyaki place, but they were booked solid. Undeterred, we made a reservation for the following night and kept hunting.
- After finding a backup option, back to the hotel. MBW settled in to go through and re-pack her shopping acquisitions and to rest sore feet, while I ducked out for a solo night recon walk. I found the Kyoto Nintendo store, Mandrake, a beautiful big Tsutaya book store, and found some other good points of interest to explore together over the next few days.
- Finally, back and to sleep.
