We made it to Kyoto!! We shinkansen-ed our little bums all the way here, and what a cool place it is already! But first, we spent the morning and early afternoon exploring Tokyo just a bit more. The weather was sunny and warm(ish), so we walked through two parks and all the way to a ramen lunch at Ichiran:
 |
| Sylvie & Henry in the park |
 |
| Meiji Shrine |
 |
| A wall of sake barrels wrapped in straw |
 |
Shout out to my mom - we saw a dressage arena on our walk through one of the
neighborhoods and thought you'd appreciate this :) |
After waiting in line for about a half an hour, we finally made our way into Ichiran for lunch. We had to buy a ticket for our ramen, then choose any additional items (drinks, extra noodles, etc.), then hand them to the waitress, who then ushered us to our seats. But not really the kind of seats you traditionally think of, more like a small boxed-off booth for a single diner, so one can focus on the taste of the ramen (I'm serious), not fellow diners. It was really funny.
 |
| Choosing ramen broth, noodle firmness and accompaniments |
 |
| Andrew's booth |
 |
| Final (incredibly yummy) product |
Twenty minutes later, we emerged new people. The ramen was exceptional. After a quick train ride home and a stop by the hotel for our bags, we were on to the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto:
Just a two-hour ride and we arrived! We cabbed to the hotel (which has an amazing lobby) and hit the town for a shabu-shabu dinner:
 |
| Hyatt lobby |
 |
| Shabu-shabu!! |
The food was excellent at this place but the seating left a lot to be desired. The tables in the restaurant sat only about a foot off the floor, so we kneeled, crouched and folded ourselves to fit under the table while we ate:
Sake and beer made it all perfectly bearable, so it was fine :). Off to bed now to dream of how we'll spend our next several days in Kyoto. Good night!
