Kyoto: Downtown

After our two sightseeing excursions, we went to the hotel in downtown Kyoto.  We stayed at the Ark Hotel and the accommodations were nice.  A small room with a desk, closet and two small double beds.  We were on the seventh floor and had a decent view.

Our tour guide offered a walking tour.  The idea was he would walk us out to the Gion area and if we saw a restaurant along the way, we could drop out. We met outside at 6pm.  Dan and I walked the hour out to Gion without seeing anything we were dying to try.  I was completely clueless as to where we were, but Dan was confident. I was beyond impressed when he did, in fact, lead us unerringly through the 25 turns back to the hotel.  We found a little Okonomiaki restaurant which ended up being even more delicious than I expected.

We did not get back to the hotel till nearly 10pm and I was pooped!

Our view from the hotel.

I was surprised how crowded the streets were.

It was quite pretty.  And really nice for being in a big city.

I wanted to show the awesome lanterns lining the street, but this really does it no justice.  

We did stop in this shop, but it was a bit too exotic of me.  I like my chocolate pretty pure.

The little restaurant we ate at.

Hiroshima and Kyoto style Okonomiyakis on the griddle.  

Iknow, it doesn't LOOK good, but it was delicious!  We shared them and both were tasty.

This is for my Dad!