Japan: Kyoto Day 1

So in the morning, the stroller became, as it often does, a luggage cart, while Mike carried Aliana in the Moby wrap. 

After a quick breakfast we headed off to the Tokyo train station to catch the bullet train to Kyoto.  We considered taking the subway (for about 3.2 seconds) to save some money, but then realized that it would have been next to impossible with 3 train changes, 2 suitcases, 3 carry-ons, one baby and a stroller.  So we stuffed ourselves into a taxi yet again.  This was a wise choice.  We've decided to stop keeping track of how much we are spending while in Japan.  There is just no point to that.  This place makes Switzerland look like a cheap place to visit.

We bought our tickets for the bullet train (which cost about the same as a flight to Japan from Seoul, but oh yeah, I'm not keeping track...) and while waiting to board, I witnessed the true beauty of the Japanese in the Shinkansen (bullet train) cleaners' choreographed movement through the train cars.. I watched them in their pristine peach uniforms blow through the cars, cleaning them from top to bottom in less than 5 minutes.  I wish I had some pics of this- it was quite a sight.

Aliana loved riding the bullet train.

We boarded and took up more than our share of overhead baggage space... due to the stroller, of course.  Good thing we don't understand Japanese.  A few people around us were not happy with our sheer amount of stuff.  

Loving Kyoto

The train sped through Japan and when we arrived in Kyoto, Aliana was more than ready for her afternoon nap.  We must have been an entertaining sight to all of those around us as we left the station for our hotel... Aliana screaming all the way and Mike and I laughing simply cause there was nothing else we could do.  We begged the hotel for an early check-in and all went directly to sleep for a few hours.  Hooray for Kyoto.

Important note: if ever you find yourself traveling through Kyoto with a baby, the Kyoto train station is where it's at.  Seriously.  So many restaurant and shopping options under one roof, and so close to great hotels that it makes it easy to run back for naps or early bedtimes.  We were psyched to head up to the 11th floor of the station for an early dinner, and then back to the hotel for Aliana's 6:30 (6:30pm) bedtime.  Then came my favorite part: Mike and I traded off babysitting duties so we could make use of the hotel's free natural hot springs on the 9th floor.  They were fabulous.  Note #2: if you are ever traveling through Kyoto, stay at the Kyoto Dormy Inn... and don't let the name decieve you- it's nothing like a dorm.   It was a great place to be for 3 nights- and with a baby, you spend quite a bit of time in the hotel, so it had better be decent and this place definitely was.  (and within a teacher's budget!)  It's about a block from the train station and has a beautiful spa where you can soak in hot pools lined with bamboo and large stones, surrounded by soft Japanese music under the Kyoto sky.  We've definitely embraced the sauna culture in Korea, but the Koreans have got nothing on Japan.  The Japanese just know how to do it... with all the beautiful details and thought given to every tiny space, it's a different world.

And then we each went down to get our free ramen.  The hotel provides Japanese pyjamas and slippers for you to wear around the hotel, so off we went, clean and relaxed, in our pyjamas to get our free ramen.  Every night from 8:30-10pm, the hotel provides a large bowl of ramen to everyone who wants it.  You go into the restaurant area and get your number from the ramen lady and when it's ready, she calls your number and you pick up your tray.  It was yummy and we went to bed.