During New Year break, I decided to go into Kyoto for the fourth time, determined to put the book Carrie and Dustin bought me on traditional Kyoto shops to good use. However, by the time the train arrived at Kyoto Station, it was already snowing pretty heavily. Almost frozen, I hurried into the nearby Starbucks for a hot latte while I pondered what to do. It was too numbing cold to do any major sightseeing, but I was remiss to waste a 2,100 yen ticket, so I decided to wander around Gion. Unwilling to tramp through the constant flurry of snow, I chickened out and took a cab.

My first stop was Kasagi-ya, an adorable little tea and sweet shop that my book highly recommended. I stopped in and order some tea and o-hagi, a Kyoto sweet with a gooey rice center, coated in sweet red bean paste. It was delicious and the atmosphere was homey and charming.


Kasagi-ya


O-hagi and tea ^^

Afterwards, I wandered in and out of shops, eyed kimono and yukata, and stopped for a bowl of soba noodles and some tempura and rice. All the while, the snow continued to fall with great persistence.


Snowy Gion streets


Gion statue

I did manage to trek up the huge flight of stairs to the previously elusive Chion-in Temple, where I took pictures of the snowy grounds until my fingers went numb. I was also hit on by a group of Koreans, who gave me a little Korean charm and wanted to practice their English with me. For some reason, I get stared at a lot more whenever I go into Kyoto, which is odd considering that I see more gaijin (foreigners) there than anywhere else I visit.


The entrance to Chion-in Temple




Chion-in snow flurry




I love this shot ^^


Chion-in pagoda


Chion-in Buddha statue


Maruyama Park in winter

I ended up lasting the entire day and finally went back to the train station around 4:00 pm. Lucikly, it wasn't snowing in Kobe ;)