Giving thanks always...: Kyoto part four

Day four: We started off day four with an almost empty tank of gas. We’ve never gone to a gas station out in town. We knew this would be a little bit of an adventure. A lot of gas stations have service people there to pump your gas and clean your windshield and such. Of course the station we find is a self serve. So here’s Peter standing in front of the gas pump wondering which one is regular. I would have gone with green…but turns out it was red we needed!

While Peter was figuring out which gas to put in our car I snapped a picture of this lady. Notice the skirt and leopard print pumps. This is very normal for bike riders here. You would rarely see an American on a bike in high heels!

The next stop was the Nijo-jo castle which was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu. In 1867 after the reign of the fifteenth Shogun, the castle was became the property of the Imperial family.

Cora all sweet and bundled up.

The Kyoto Tower

One of the many sights from the 365 degree view from the observation deck in the Kyoto Tower.

This is the Kyoto Tower mascot. Cora liked her.

A geisha statue.

The Ryozen Kannon is a giant statue of Bodhisattva Ekādaśamukha. This is a memorial for all the Japanese that were killed during World War II.

After capturing the picture of the above statue we got to watch the sun go down with this beautiful view!

Then we finally headed back to the Kyoto Handicraft Center. If you will remember we went there on our first day but Cora had other plans for us. So we made it back and did some Japanese crafts. I made a necklace using the art of cloisonné. I painted a colored sand type stuff onto a metal owl and then it was baked and cooled.

The final result.

Peter made a spinning top. Cora won’t be able to play with until she is older but what a neat little toy to give her one day. A reminder of our time in Kyoto when she was just a wee one! :)