We woke up today to a magnificent view of snow falling outside our window – how cool is that?? It was awesome – a lot colder of course, I think the weather today was around 4 degrees. Again that didn’t stop us checking out Kyoto. We just rugged up in our thermals, lots of layers on top, our big jackets, beanies and gloves. How could you stay couped up in the hotel with such beautiful sights to see? Everything is absolutely amazing to look at. The snow was just falling on top of us – it was not cold enough to stay on the ground but it was still snowing quite heavily. We borrowed umbrellas from the hotel again which was good because we definitely needed them.
It is the holiday period at the moment so we couldn’t do any tours……we decided to have a little walk around. We found a really nice café and had some breakfast in it. Steve had bacon and eggs and Marie and I shared a ham and cheese sandwich which came with fries and icing sugar on top – what a bizarre combination but it actually tasted really nice. Steve’s feet were killing him still from the blisters so we decided to hire some bikes. This was an excellent idea and we had a terrific little adventure exploring Kyoto with them. The bikes were 1000yen a day to hire which is good value as we could travel pretty far and get a workout at the same time!! We spent the rest of the day riding around the streets. 
We went to the Kyoto Imperial Gardens which were just gorgeous. There were temples and shrines all through it and were magnificent to look at. The snow was on and off all day – it’s funny because whether it is raining, snowing or sun is shining people just ride their bikes regardless. They just ride and hold their umbrella in one hand, so we just did as they did. It is pretty hard to balance a bike while holding an umbrella but I am slowly getting better. It was really fun riding around today – I had a great time. 
We found this other temple called the Shokokuji Temple which was really beautiful – this monk came out and let us have a look inside one of the shrines. This was where they worship Budda. The gardens surrounding this temple were spectacular. Kyoto is quite different from Osaka. It is a lot quieter and laid back. People are neat and tidy but not as dressed up as the people in Osaka. Steve liked the look of the girls in Osaka better as you can imagine!! The people in general everywhere we have been have been very friendly and helpful. They literally run to help you out and to go and get things. It’s really cute. The scenery is really nice wherever I look and everything is clean, the streets, the restaurants, the hotels……when you eat out they give you a little napkin that is wrapped in plastic that you wipe your hands clean with. I love this concept!! After we rode our bikes all day, we went back to the hotel to have a little rest before we headed out again for dinner. For dinner we took our bikes and rode to a busy street filled with restaurants and little shops. It took us about 10 minutes to ride our bikes there. Gee our bikes have really come in handy. The air was chilly but being rugged up it was ok to ride in. We found a restaurant that we like the look of and went inside. The meals we ate and the prices were fantastic. 
We had a three course meal: soup, I had a curried pork dish, Steve had steak and Marie had a beef casserole dish, and then we got ice cream and fruit and coffee for dessert. So my three course meal only cost 1200 yen which is around $12 – how good is that? Marie and Steve’s were around the $25, but still that is awesome for a three course meal. After dinner we rode our bikes back to the hotel to defrost and get some much needed rest!
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