Sunday in Kyoto

Beautiful wool shop.

Today is a REALLY hot day: Max 27 degrees. Very unseasonable for November. First stop Roanji Temple, with its beautiful gardens. Second stop Golden Temple. It’s still very very busy, still the long weekend and many people are visiting these temples today. It’s really interesting to me to see what people are wearing: fashions are very different in Japan. It’s an inspiration just to sit and watch people go by.

These temple gardens are a joy to walk through, but we never see a single monk. What are the monks doing while all the tourists are here? The Golden Temple is perhaps the biggest attraction in Kyoto. It is actually gold coloured all over and many people want to have photos taken across the lake with the temple in the background. You have to fight for a space to do this.

We had a quick lunch in a Japanese set meal place and then there was free time to do what we wanted. Most of the group wanted to visit two yarn shops recommended by Arne and Carlos. One was called Itokobako and the other Avril. At Avril, we all had our Arne and Carlos bags with us, and the owner was very excited when she saw this. There was also a Rowan Magazine in Japanese on display.

Display of wool in Avril
Arne and Ruthe on the left