Kyoto Day 5, Nishiki Market

We started the morning by taking our luggage
to the train station and storing it in a locker.
We decided to spend our last few hours in
Kyoto visiting the Nishiki Market.
It is a five block long narrow market place, also known as
Kyoto's Kitchen. If you're a brave foodie, you can eat your
way through the market, sampling all there is to offer.
Like these salted dried whole fish. Drop the
two zeros at the end of the Japanese yen,
and it will get you close to the US dollar.
$5 bucks for fish on a stick- No thanks.
  
Though iced down, these little octopussies
were still trying to make a clean getaway.

These baby ones weren't as lucky.
For $3 each, they're all yours.

This looked super interesting, to buy a
silk ball- though I don't know what I would
do with the thread- if that's what it was?

These baby octopussies were special as they had a
roasted chestnut stuffed in the head...tempting, but NO.
Interestingly, the Nishiki Market began as a fish market over
700 years ago, but it expanded to a full service market 400 years ago. 
The produce all looked amazing; it's no wonder
local restaurants pick up their ingredients here.
It would have been fun to do a traditional Japanese
 cooking class. I'll save it for the next go around.
   
I could not get over the texture, or SMELL
of the Narazuke.  It is a traditional method of
pickling vegetables that has them fermented
in rice bran and salt. I was told they are 'very
delicious'. I will simply trust their word, as I
could not get past the slime or death smell.
Anything that is 'best before 90 days at room
temperature' is not fit for my consumption!

We chose to visit the more typical souvenier
stalls for trinkets.  This was a very clever hand
made soap shop that had a bank of sink basins
to try their products. Now for that, I was SOLD.

With our sacks of treasures in hand, and a few snacks in our bellies, we returned to the train station to retrieve our luggage. A train ride to the airport, and a comfortable easy flight back to Okinawa, and this trip to Kyoto was tah done!  If EVER you plan a trip to Japan, do not miss Kyoto.  We could have easily spent a week there, as there is so much to see and do. The city holds 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines, and so many landscaped gardens and museums. It is home seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites...such rich history and culture. We never made it to the Imperial Palace, the many museums, the theater, or the Gion district, where you can see the Geisha women sing and dance. I have a feeling I will visit again one day, as Ellie and Herb will be stationed in Japan for at least three years, if not longer.

For now, I am anxious to get back to the warmer weather of Okinawa, and to do a little island exploring.  Life is good :)

G'nite, y'all!




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