Kyoto 2019 day 2: an easy start

MorgChop and family arrived in Kyoto this morning, and we would have the next three days together.  It's been a few years since I last saw him, but it's been more than 15 years since I last saw his wife and son.  In fact, the last time I saw the little kid was before he turned 2... and he's headed to Shrimp Buddha this fall.  How time flies...

Our first stop today was Nijo-jo (二条城), the castle that was the Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa shogunate. It's been more than a decade since my last visit, and they have since renovated the famous Karamon (唐門) which leads into the Ninomaru Palace (二の丸御殿) and gardens.  No wonder the gilded parts were looking so shiny under the sun...

We walked through the entire connected complex of buildings of the Ninomaru Palace, and marveled at the painted sliding doors, intricate gilded metal work, and the nightingale floors.

The Honmaru Palace (本丸御殿) was under major renovation, so we walked around the gardens and made our exit.

One of the places that the visitors wanted to check out was Nishiki Market (錦市場).  I'm actually not sure that I've visited this place before...  And it was certainly the first time for our visitors to walk through a market like this in Japan.

We walked around looking at all the shops selling various fruits and vegetables, marinated and pickled vegetables, dried seafood, and plenty of ready-to-eat food.  The place was packed with tourists, and the locals obviously have been pissed off about tourists eating and drinking while walking around - which polite Japanese would never do - so there are signs posted all along the not-so-wide street admonishing foreigners.

With none of the 5 people wanting to make any decisions on where to eat, we kinda just kept walking... and only occasionally stopping to grab something small - such as matcha (抹茶) / houjicha soft serve (ほうじ茶ソフトクリーム) or this cute-looking deep-fried hedgehog-shaped bun.

Finally, Hello Kitty declared that we should sit down somewhere for lunch, and somehow I missed the fact that the yakiniku () joint I spotted was closed, and we entered the place right next door... Wagamama Shokudo Kibou (わがまま食堂きぃぼう) turned out to be just OK...

This was kinda like a Caesar salad...

Wild baby sweetfish from Lake Biwa (琵琶湖天然稚鮎) - these were lightly deep-fried and of course eaten whole.  Certainly a seasonal and local specialty.  We did have some people who were a little squeamish about eating the heads of little fishies...

Our pork miso soup (豚汁) came with plenty of slices of radish.

Lunch box set with beef steak (ステーキ重定食) - actually not bad...

Pike conger tempura from Awaji (淡路鱧天ぷら) - it's the season for pike conger (鱧), so I figured I'd get some to share.  This was OK.

We kept on strolling until we hit Shijo (四条), and it was now almost 5pm - when Chion-in (知恩院) was already closed for the day.  With dinner in a couple of hours, the boys decided to head back to the Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto so that the visitors could check-in, while the ladies stuck around Kawaramachi (河原町) and did some shopping...