Palaces Restaurant

There are 3 breakfast options available here at the hotel: a western style buffet, a Chinese buffet, and a Japanese breakfast. We've already tried the Chinese and western buffets so Monday Elliott and I tried the Japanese breakfast. The Japanese breakfast is a tray of assorted items including meat, egg, fish, and vegetables accompanied by a choice of steamed rice or rice porridge. I selected the porridge side and Elliott stuck with the sticky rice. I sampled almost everything and finished most of it, but it didn't really consider it a satisfying breakfast. Elliott was adventurous and willing to experiment but didn't really enjoy his breakfast either. After leaving the restaurant we stopped at the bakery for some croissants. :)

Japanese Breakfast

Rain was forecast Monday but it was still dry after breakfast so we decided to try to take in some more sights in the morning then go to Arashiyama in the afternoon. We started with the Kyoto imperial palace. This former residence of the imperial family is in the center of a large city park. You can visit the park and  the residence area of some of the ancient noblemen, but the palace grounds are off limits without an advance reservation. So we enjoyed a stroll through the park but all we could see of the palace were some rooftops that rose above the palace walls.

Imperial Palace

We got back on the subway and got off at Nijo Castle, the residence of the first shogun Tokugawa. Here we were able to enter the building and tour all the interior rooms. One of the interesting features was the nightingale floors that intentionally squeaked when walked on to serve as a warning against intruders. We also toured the exterior grounds including the gardens.

Nijo Castle

When we finished at the castle the weather was still good so we continued to Arashiyama where we went for a ride on the scenic railway that runs along the Hozu river. When we got back we took a walk to the nearby bamboo forest. It started raining as we approached the bamboo groves but we had umbrellas so we were able to mostly keep dry. When we finished our bamboo walk it was time to return to the hotel.

Sagano Scenic Railway

Bamboo Forest