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Friday, May 19, 2017

Temples and Tofu in Kyoto

We hit the wall last night about 30 hours after we'd left our Vienna hotel.

We hadn't eaten since a continental breakfast on our flight and headed to the Westin Lounge. It's one floor below our room and offers a nice view of the surrounding city and hills.


There is little food out but the employees deliver a small plate. That's it.


We were tired but still hungry, and decided on the hotel's Chinese restaurant, very expensive but decent food.







A cute teapot...

And a fancy bag to carry our unfinished bottle of wine back to our room...


We slept in this morning - the longest and best sleep of our trip so far.

Once organized, we walked the half-mile or so to the Nanzen-ji Zen Buddhist Temple complex. We knew it was an important landmark, because groups of well-behaved students on field trips abounded.



The temple and the grounds are beautiful and clearly Japanese.






Having slept through breakfast, we decided on a restaurant adjacent to (within?) the complex that specializes in vegetarian tofu hot pot, Nanzenji Junsei.

The young man guarding the front gate confirmed there was a table for us and escorted us in.




It was an interesting experience. Our favorite dish of the elaborate meal was the tempura.





We can't overlook the exquisite presentation.


Our favorite...


Tofu merrily boiling...


Pickles and dessert, the little round pastries tasting like donut holes in a plastic bag...


After lunch, we strolled through the restaurant's lovely garden.





And now for a nap before our evening visit to the Westin Lounge.

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