We woke up sleepy and tired, but excited to revisit another city. This time the train ride was short. We had our JR Passes which meant we could ride the super speedy Shinkansen — Osaka to Kyoto would be a 15 minute hop.
We had booked a nice townhouse, also known as machiya or Kyo-machiya in Kyoto, which was managed by Rinn, one of the big hotel chains in Kyoto. Upon arriving to Kyoto station, we immediately went to the nearby Rinn hotel to drop off our bags, and someone would later drive us (and our bags) to the house we’d rented.
Facing the immense Kyoto heat was not easy, but knowing we wouldn’t have to drag our bags all the way to Higashiyama-ku was a blessing.
Without thinking about it or discussing it among ourselves, we dipped back into the Kyoto station to evade the sun and hot temperatures. Really, anywhere with shade would have sufficed, but a cooler place was definitely welcome.
We’d been here before, but the architecture and sheer scale of the place is always incredible to witness first-hand. We got on the escalators multiple times, going up and down, just to experience the station from as many different angles as we could.
Then it was lunch time and our bellies were rumbling. We explored the many floors of the station, and entrances to different areas of the adjoining shopping malls and food courts. Browsed through lots of options that varied between ramen, western food, omurice, and more. We even spotted a couple of places we’d had great food in years before, but wanted to try a new restaurant.
Every place we passed by had a line at the door, except for one. In general the longer the queue outside, the better the food inside. And having no queue in a busy place is usually a bad sign. It could be that the food isn’t that great, but it could simply mean that the kitchen is closed or closing soon.
We inquired inside and to our surprise, not only was the place bustling but they’d take us in in just a few minutes. The place was called Ten-Ichi and served the best tempura.
Once it was time for our check-in we went back to the hotel, filled out some papers, and waited for the driver to pick us up. We got in the car and after a short but nice drive through Kyoto’s busy center, he dropped us off at the machiya.
The townhouse was stunning to say the least. A beautiful traditional wooden house from the outside and completely renovated on the inside with all the modern amenities. We were eager to explore Kyoto once again, but after seeing this place we commented that we could simply enjoy the house and not feel bad about a wasted opportunity.
Once we had settled in and the heat was mostly gone, we stepped outside again to explore what would be our neighborhood for the next couple of days. Grabbed food at a nearby Lawson konbiki, showed Yasui Konpiragu to the girls, walked around through some beautiful and incredibly quiet residential areas, and wrapped up the day by playing with the kids at Matsubarabashi park.
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