The last stop of our Japan trip was Kyoto – and I actually have a ton of photos from our three days there.

I love everything about this city, the architecture, the food (duh), the scenery, the SHOPPING (although this time I didn’t get to do a whole lot of that, thanks to my handsome but doesn’t-love-to-browse-husband).

Architecture in Kyoto is varied, beautiful, and a lot of it REALLY old. There are over 1,500 temples in the city alone.

We visited the Golden Temple, it sits on the edge of a serene pond, and the two top levels of building itself covered in gold leaf, truly stunning. It was pretty packed, so we didn’t go inside, but it was well worth the trip, the photos don’t do justice!

If you want good coffee in Kyoto, go to % Arabica – and between the two (or maybe three now) locations, the one on Arashiyama river is TOP. Our first trip to Kyoto, this was their only shop, still the best IMHO.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, which was very central to the places we wanted to go, so we walked as much as we could (didn’t offset all the food and drink but I guess it was better than nothing).

For food there was of course excellent sushi, as well as a really cool French restaurant we went to…and noodles. One place we came across by accident was called Pooh’s Cafe (no Winnie the Pooh themed stuff inside) which was quite good! We sat at a table by the window overlooking the little canal, it was very peaceful. The only photo I have is of me holding my chopsticks incorrectly so I won’t be putting that up.

The two other restaurants we tried in Kyoto that were excellent: La Famille Morinaga and Motoi.

Hope you enjoy the photos, Golden Temple ones taken by my handsome-and-impossible-husband 😉