Kyoto to Osaka!

From Kyoto to Osaka!

This morning was our last wake up in Kyoto.  After breakfast we had just one more thing to do here before we boarded the train towards Osaka. On our walk through the shopping district a couple of days ago without realising it we had found our way into Nishiki Market. Unfortunately, it was so late in the afternoon that most of the stalls had closed or were closing.

 

After making tidy of our room and our wardrobe in our cases we did a last minute scan  of the room and bathroom to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything and as a priority checked out, asked the hotel to mind our luggage and headed to breakfast again! I had set my mind for a visit to Starbucks this morning for a decent coffee, but also had eaten some yoghurt there a couple of days ago which I was keen to have as my morning snack today. Unfortunately, when we got there (it was around brunch time), the yoghurt was nowhere to be found. ;o( Never mind... so I just picked what was available and settled on a ham and cheese Panini of sorts. Steve and I munched on our breakfast quite efficiently as we had suddenly both realised we were quite hungry given the time!

 

With breakfast finished, we marched towards Nishiki Market as we had read in our Lonely Planet guide that it was well worth a visit particularly for the variety of  different and shocking foods on offer. I would say probably not shocking for the locals as this was part of their every day norm, but certainly some broad sensory stimulation for those not used to such cuisine! It was very interesting actually, the market also had some lovely handcrafted stalls which we inspected and ended up purchasing some gifts for the relatives in Poland. Kyoto is the land of handmade paper and over the last couple of days I had joyfully indulged my fascination for this product by buying a number of sheets of stunning origami paper.  As I repacked my luggage this morning I realised that I had in fact accumulated a fair bit of it!

 

As we walked through the local area around the market, Steve had started to feel unwell again so we headed back towards Kyoto station and back to our hotel to pick up our well cared for luggage. After a short rest at the hotel, a drink of water and to enjoy the free internet in the hotel lobby for a few more precious minutes we took ourselves back to Kyoto station and boarded a JR Local train bound for Osaka. The local JR took about 30 mins to get to Osaka and Steve was keen to get to our hotel as he was feeling increasingly off.  On arrival at our hotel, Steve collapsed into bed and I went out in search of a snack for the both of us and some Panadol. I just love going out in search of these things. I think Steve had his money on me getting myself lost because we'd been in Osaka for about 5 mins and hadn't had a chance to grasp our bearings. I patiently walked through the main station in Osaka and with some persistent questions, and blank looks found just what I was looking for.  On the way, I had passed a Supermarket and decided on my way back to the hotel to drop in and have a good sticky nose at what could be found there. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but in this supermarket I found various international brands including PG Tips tea, Wether's toffees and would you believe it a selection of TIM TAMS!

 

I passed on the other items but came home with some Wethers, yoghurt and a bag of corn chips and a large bottle of water because the water in Japan is SO chlorinated that it tastes and smells like I am drinking a bottle of EXIT mould! Not pleasant at all. After returning to the hotel room with a panadol equivalent and feeding Steve some yoghurt for his upset tum and a short nap, we both headed out in search of dinner in close proximity to our hotel. In the arcade underneath the station we found a Kirin City and decided that we should stick to some normal western food types. I ordered a surprisingly yummy carbonara and some salad. Steve had chosen something relatively unadventurous in the food department in line of his stomach requirements. Before heading back to our hotel, we wandered around the station for a while looking for a ticket office to ask some questions about getting to the airport tomorrow in the evening. Both tired, the ticket machine and route diagrams hadn't been of much help to us so we just wanted to talk to someone. Fortunately, at the ticket counter the lady was quite helpful and even with her limited English directed us to the correct platform, carriage number (the train splits in two at some point and if we had entered the wrong carriage number we may have ended up miles away from our preferred destination!)  and train type so we had the most efficient journey to the airport as possible.

So the day ends, tomorrow we hope to get to the castle in Osaka which is apparently a sight to be seen. We fly out from Osaka at midnight and am not entirely sure whether I will get a chance to upload an entry before then regarding our sightseeing tomorrow. But who knows! We'll be in Warsaw for two weeks and will probably be disconnected from WIFI, while out in the country with the relatives.  I've updated our location to Warsaw because of the WIFI reason. I may  not get a chance to update it before we leave tomorrow.

Until then - Goodnight to all that matter back home. You know who you are... x