2009年10月14日 14:06
Sightseeing in Kyoto
こんにちわ!
I`m Monika and I`m a student from Poland. I came to Japan about a week ago and I live now in Kyoto. I`m working here in Tondaya, where I learn about Japanese culture. I`ll be here for 6 months. I think this is the most beautiful place I`ve ever been to! Yesterady was my day off from work so I decided to see something more in Kyoto than my work surroundings. Before my arrival here I heard that the best way to explore this place is by bicycle. And I have to admit that`s true! I was cycling for the whole day yesterday around Kyoto and I enjoyd it very much.
Kyoto has many beautiful places that should be seen, so the choice was really difficult for me and I didn`t know what should I pick for my sightseeing, but I think the choice was very good. I started my day from visiting the Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo). I get there just a bit after 9.00 AM so that there weren`t so many tourists yet. The castle is really huge and amazing. As the residence of shogun, Nijo-jo is really distinguished. Unfortunately taking photos was not allowed inside the castle but outside and in the gardens I could take some. The inside of Ninomaru Palace was breathtaking! I was walking around and I could really see that amazing place. I saw many of wonderful wall paintings. Next I walked through Ninomaru Garden and Honmaru Garden. I think that this place should be seen by every visitor to Kyoto as it`s really hard to describe how beautiful it is.
However, Nijo Castle wasn`t the only place I`ve visited yesterday. I also saw the Heian Jingu Shrine. When I was in Poland and I was preparing to my journey to Japan I was reading a lot about Kyoto and I saw a lot of photos of it. But even though I knew what should I expect to see here, I was really astonished to see it in real as it looks thounsand times more dignified. I was astonised when I saw the Heian Jingu Shrine. Not only the inside of the shrine was amazing but also a huge tori gate in front of it. The sun was shining almost for the whole day so it was really great weather for sightseeing. The shrine had an amazing colour beacause of the sunshine rays. On my way back home there were also some interesting shrines so I decided to stop by and see how do they look. FIrst I saw Kumano Shrine and then Goou Shrine and Seimei Shrine. They weren`t so big but even though extremely beautiful. I really enjoy visiting these amazing places. The atmosphere there is indescribable.
Everything I saw yesterday was even more amazing for me as it`s completely different from my culture and from architecture in Poland or in other parts of Europe.I always dreamed about visiting Japan (especially Kyoto because of its traditional style) and it`s really hard to describe feeling while making your dreams come true! That was an unforgettable day for me and I hope for more days like this. I know already that leaving Japan will be extrenely hard for me.