KYOTO - CHIRIMEN CRAFT MUSEUM - GINKAKUJI

 Sleeping on a futon is really uncomfortable!  I though futons were foam mattresses, but they are actually only continental quilts. All I could feel was the hard floor beneath. I'm too old to sleep on the floor! When I awoke, my throat felt a bit scratchy as it had the night before, but I thought I was just tired and tried to ignore it.  It was raining again, and from our window I saw these cute little kids on their way to school.

 We walked uo to Kyoto station to look for some breakfast. Snapped this cute little eatery along the way. I just love taking in all the sights of everyday life when I am overseas.

 Shinkansen at Kyoto station.

Unfortunately, all the cafes were full of customers, so we ended up eating breakfast at Lotteria, which was quite nice. Then we caught the subway to Imedagawa station to start our day of temple hopping at Ginkakuji. We then caught a taxi to the road leading up to Ginkakuji.  I had read that taxis in Japan are really expensive, but they only cost about the same as in Australia, so we decided not to bother about using the buses. Also, taxis save alot of time when you need to pack alot of sightseeing into one day. By this stage, my throat was really on fire and my whole body ached. Why do I get sick every time I go overseas! I truly felt awful, but I wasn't about to lie in bed, I mean on the floor, all day after I had travelled half way across the world to my dream destination. And, to make matters worse, I was sure I had packed a box of Panadiene in my case, but I had actually left it back home.  So I had no drugs even to keep me going, Did I feel sorry for myself! But I was determined to do everything on my itinerary, so I just pretended I was fine and kept plodding on. I drank copious amounts of cold green tea to try and soothe my throat.

 

 Here is the road leading up to Ginkakuji.  If there is one way to cheer me up, it's souvenir shopping.  The whole road was lined with little shops. And then, look what I found-a branch of the Chirimen Museum!

I adore chirimen.  The colours and textures of the fabric are truly exquisite. My dream job would be to make things from chirimen all day.

 I love this mobile, but I was very expensive, but so much work had gone into making it.

I of course purchased a couple of items, which I will show you later.