The Golden Temple

So after Gion Cho, we got into a taxi that took us to the other side of town, to the Golden Temple. I don't have my nifty historical information in front of me (sorry), but short version of the story is that a very important guy in Japanese history came here to retire, and buit this place and then covered it in gold as a retirement home of sorts. Since then, it's been repainted to make it five times shinier than when it was originally built. Here it is:

The Golden Temple was probably the most crowded place we visited in Kyoto. It certainly felt like there were more people there than elsewhere. The result is pictures like this:

Visitors aren't actually allowed inside the building (and why would you want to go in anyway? The pretty part is outside), but the grounds around the temple are quite lovely as well.

The grounds of the temple are also home to a very old tea house. It's not currently in use, but it is very pretty, too:

By the time we finished at the Golden Temple, it was getting to be mid-afternoon and we were a little tired of sight seeing, so we went on back to the hotel for a quick rest before dinner. We spent the evening looking through a Japanese department store and finding dinner. My big accomplishment for this trip: the guy at the restaurant we ate at for dinner that night assumed we wouldn't need English menus based on my Japanese. I'm terribly proud!

The next morning, we took our time getting up and to the train station, and by the next afternoon we were back in Sasebo. It was a quick trip, but a good one.