We got up this morning to check out of the hotel at Disney. I grabbed a chocolate croissant from Toastina, a cafe in the hotel.
We got a van to take us to Dai-Ichi, our next hotel when we got back in Tokyo so we could store our big pieces of luggage there and not drag them to Kyoto. Then the van dropped us off at Tokyo Station.
We exchanged the JR Rail Pass vouchers that we had bought online a month beforehand. This made travelling sooo much cheaper. You can only buy them from out of the country (and we found out you can't extend it once you're in the country. We had exactly enough days on them after Disney until our flight home. One of the girls didn't go to Disney with us and used it on that day. When we used it the second to last day of the trip on the long train ride, she didn't have any days left and they wouldn't let her extend it so she had to pay a lot of money for the ticket). Then we got on the train to Kyoto. It wasn't the fast bullet train but it was still pretty fast. The trip took about 2 hours and 40 minutes.
On the train, I tried snacks called Toppo and Meiji Cacao Chips. Both were pretty good.
When we got off the train, we walked to our Ryokan (kind of like a Japanese bed & breakfast). It was called Sakura Kaede.
While we were checking in, they served us some green tea. Not my fav. It needed sugar!
Meredith, Rebecca, and Vuong were staying in a traditional Japanese room which has little mats on the floor and then there are small cushions to lay on top to sleep.
A view of their garden
They only had one of those types of rooms available so Cori and I stayed in a normal (to us) room.
Here they ask you to take off your shoes each time you walk into the room. And darn if I didn't keep forgetting. And then I'd feel bad!
Then we had lunch at this little hole in the wall, a local ramen place. It was good! I got the "Chinese Noodle with Soy Sauce." It was interesting because you ordered by putting money into a machine like a vending machine, pressed the button for what you wanted, and then a ticket popped out for you to give to the guy.
There are also drink vending machines all over the place. Which I loved since I have a slight Coke addiction.
Up next...the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple.