From London to Kyoto.

the year had hardly started, and i found myself packed and heading out to an exciting journey ahead of me. after checking-in i boarded the plane at 7:15am with very little sleep, and couldn't sleep because i was really anxious. after one hour flight we landed in Paris, and boarded to our next plane heading to osaka, kansai airport. the flight took about 10 hours, i really dislike take-off; the moment the plane is heading up in the air and then drops a little and my heart feels like it's stopped.

arriving in osaka the next day 9:20am (jan 2nd, japan time), me and den took the train called はるか (haruka), in direction to 京都 (kyoto). it took about an hour, and i was exhausted, but i couldn't stop looking at the new surroundings. den kept telling me 'this is nothing, wait till you arrive in kyoto". we then had to take a cab to tanaka sekidencho as we were too exhausted.

 leaving London via Heathrow.

 connection flight in Paris.

 Arrival in Kansai Airport, Osaka.

One of the trains to Kyoto.

Gion. 祇園

 here is one of kyoto's most well-known geisha districts. the area is full of ochaya (teahouses), with geiko (kyoto's dialect for geisha) and maiko (apprentices); which unfortunately, i took some pictures but they didn't come out that great in the end, next time maybe. looking through the images now brings a nice nostalgic feeling and of me walking down this small roads. i can almost feel the cold air again, and the excitement of being in a place i've wanted to visit for so long. on the floor was still a few 紅葉 (momiji), which are leaves from the autumn fall that japanese culture really value, and even have events where people gather together just to appreciate the beauty of nature from their country. the leaves stand out with a deep red tone, and i felt lucky to have seen the very last ones before winter took its toll.

it was a very busy day in the shrines, people were on holidays so everyone was everywhere and i decided not to visit this shrine at this time. after exploring a traditional area, me and den got hungry so he took me to one of his favorite restaurants かつくら (katsukura), (being mine too now, maybe all of them are my favorite honestly). we were given a bowl of barley and had to crush it, then adding a sauce to make the delicious dip. i ordered えび (ebi), which are delicious large prawns fried in a nicely coated batter, along with cabbage salad, miso soup, and tea. for the rest of the day, i went and enjoyed the huge january sales going on everywhere.

one of the many narrow roads in gion, kyoto.

interesting little house or restaurant.

momiji on moss.

momiji around the tree's root.

a lake i passed inside the shrine.

prayers, and hopes for the new year.

roads leading to more beautiful places.

shrines protected by trees.

beautiful gardens.

a little aquarium with goldfishes.

the river nearby when the day was coming to an end.

katsukura.