Japan 2007: Kyoto

I slept terribly on the hard bed and rock hard pillow last night. The pillow is filled on one side with some sort of pointy bean of sorts, that didn’t help. Have to remember to close the windows too; we face an office building that is very active. The hotel isn’t bad, especially for the price, but I admit I was expecting more for its grand reopening. Ah well.

Today we decided to go to the steam locomotive museum. We stopped by the Boulangerie at Kyoto Station for a good breakfast. We did laundry (okay, Herr took care of most of it), then went back to the station to pick up rice balls for lunch. We walked quite a bit alongside the tracks when we reached the park next to the museum. It was not very far, but we were both a bit sluggish. Quite a few flowers blooming in the park and many people enjoying the warmer weather and colorful views.

The museum had a small information area with a few videos, some model trains, and some demos of the coal shoveling and cab. Outside was a large circular storage shed with several steam locomotives. I tried to stay mostly in the warm sun though. The way they were stored seemed very efficient with a turntable at the center to let any of them out. The engines were well kept and clean; we even saw the emperor’s train that was designed to have the smoothest possible ride. A live steam train was available to ride a short distance, but Herr has already ridden many steam locomotives before and decided not to go.

The place was filled with children — it seems to be popular for that age. We finished our rice balls in a dining car and made our way back through the park. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We made a short stop at The Cube’s book area and purchased Memoirs of a Geisha. We both felt tired, so back at the hotel we began reading the book to each other and caught up on e-mail. Herr dropped off our postcards at the front desk and bought a small dinner at a convenience store. We fell asleep after a bit more reading from Memoirs of a Geisha and a bath.