Grandma Michiko's friend from Sasebo has a friend in Osaka who arranged for us to have private drivers while we were in Kyoto. This is now the only way I'll travel! They took us first to Kinkaju-ji, The Golden Pavilion.
It is covered in seven coats of gold leaf. Next, we went to Sanjunsangendo, which is a Buddhist temple that holds 1,100 statues of Buddha. I've studied several of the statues from this temple in my art history classes, so it was fun to see them.
Then we went to Fuhimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for thousands of Torii gates that lead all the way up the mountain. Usually, a Shinto Shrine has one Torii gate at the entrance.
Our drivers took us through the Gion district, which is where the Meiko-san and Geiko-san live and train. They showed us the shrines where the Meiko-san usually pray, and the most famous schools.
At the end of the day, Sato-san (on of our drivers) got us a reservation at a very fancy traditional Japanese restaurant. We had a private room on the second floor overlooking the river. The restaurant was also on the famous Pontocho Street, which is an old street lined with lanterns. We saw a few Geiko-san dining in the restaurant below.
I thought the food was delicious. Some of the things were a little different, but I enjoyed the variety and how pretty everything looked. The one thing that was a little rough was the fish below. I was able to nibble a bit from the middle, but I couldn't bring myself to pop it all in my mouth.
It is covered in seven coats of gold leaf. Next, we went to Sanjunsangendo, which is a Buddhist temple that holds 1,100 statues of Buddha. I've studied several of the statues from this temple in my art history classes, so it was fun to see them.
Then we went to Fuhimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for thousands of Torii gates that lead all the way up the mountain. Usually, a Shinto Shrine has one Torii gate at the entrance.
Our drivers took us through the Gion district, which is where the Meiko-san and Geiko-san live and train. They showed us the shrines where the Meiko-san usually pray, and the most famous schools. 
At the end of the day, Sato-san (on of our drivers) got us a reservation at a very fancy traditional Japanese restaurant. We had a private room on the second floor overlooking the river. The restaurant was also on the famous Pontocho Street, which is an old street lined with lanterns. We saw a few Geiko-san dining in the restaurant below.
I thought the food was delicious. Some of the things were a little different, but I enjoyed the variety and how pretty everything looked. The one thing that was a little rough was the fish below. I was able to nibble a bit from the middle, but I couldn't bring myself to pop it all in my mouth.
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