With every step we take, Kyoto to the bay strolling so casually

The bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto took  2hours 40mins to complete the 500 km journey – pretty impressive.  Our accommodation was a hostel about 12 mins from the station with a large room, kitchen (with no utensils which made it pretty pointless) but more importantly a washing machine. Exactly what we needed. It also had a bathroom that turned into a drying room at the flick of a switch – now that was impressive. Mr L a big fan of that.
Thankfully the sun shone throughout our time in Kyoto which meant the cherry blossom looked fabulous & as we walked along the Path of Philosophy we were surrounded by it. And of course there were plenty of temples to explore & the grounds of the palace where, after much walking we found ourselves a nice spot to lay down in the sunshine & have a cheeky snooze. Nice.
One evening we went to  Ponto-cho a street of traditional buildings with lots of restaurants – so many it was hard to chose but we eventually committed ourselves. Over the doorway of restaurants they have material so that you have to bow down to enter. Unsurprisingly queuing is very organised. The restaurant was full as were the two ‘waiting chairs’ just inside the door so we had to stand outside. Then when a table became free we were moved inside to the ‘waiting chairs’ & then when another table became free, to our table. A great system. All the tables had hot plates for warming your food. We ordered our food and Sake. I've never been too sure about sake. I had some in London last year which was nice but it was £11 a glass. This was £4 for a small bottle & it was delicious - I'm hooked! Some Japanese ladies arrived at the next table  & through the international language of pointing I was able to confirm that the sake was a good option so they got some too. After we had eaten our food we were still peckish & liked the look of the food the ladies had,  so we ordered that. They helpfully told us what order to put the toppings on & what condiments to have. Another v tasty dish.
On our way back to the hotel we called into a huge department store – open until 11pm – to look around. On one floor they had a  display of relaxing armchairs that did all sorts of massaging things and lots of people were sitting in them trying them out. As we looked about we noticed that several  were asleep & one person had even got  an eye mask on & was fast asleep in a chair laid flat out. In the TV  department we saw the best sight – a man sitting on a sofa watching one of the display TV’s with a beer in his hand. Brilliant. And it was all perfectly normal & the staff didn't seem bothered by to at all.
Another day trip took us out of the centre by bus to a place called Arashiyama to visit a temple, some beautiful gardens & the amazing bamboo grove – a walk that takes you through the middle of a small forest where giant bamboo trees tower over you and almost every where we went we saw young couples dressed in traditional costumes or in wedding dresses & suits, being photographed.  It was so lovely to stroll around and soak up the views & the tradition of these places. I have to admit that we have, very quickly,  fallen head over heels in love with Japan.
Our last day in Kyoto we hired bicycles & had  great fun exploring the side streets, the market and of course some more temples.  Making sure not to speed, as I cannot afford another fine, it made a nice change from walking & we needed to give our feet a rest as we had plenty more walking ahead of us at our next stop – Takayama – gateway to the Northern Japan Alps.