Shrines, temples, and castles

We tried to blog last night but our dinner ran late and the concierge desk was already closed (that's where the computers are in the hotel) so now I'll update you on the last 2 days.
Yesterday morning we started the day off with a short train ride into northwest Kyoto to see the Kinkaku-ji or Golden Pavilion. It's a beautiful temple with real gold leaf covering the entirety of the outside. Thao and I both said that even if we didn't see anything else, this temple was beautiful enough to keep us happy for the rest of the trip. It was full of tourists (from all over) who had been bused in to see it.
Afterwards we walked to Nijo Castle to see the amazing paintings and "nightingale floors" which were made to rub and squeak gently when someone walked on them so as to alert the occupants of intruders.
Yesterday was our coolest day yet here in Japan and I think it probably only got to around 85 degrees. Nevertheless we aren't drinking enough and it's become a running joke that neither of us ever has to go to the bathroom during the day. Don't worry everyone, we're working on it.
Off that side note, Nijo Castle was beautiful and huge! We especially got a good appreciation of its size when we walked around the ENTIRE outside (surrounded by a moat no less) only to discover that the entrance gait was near where we had started. Ah, irony!
For lunch yesterday we ate at this manic restaurant where there was one man working the entire dining section and I think doing some of the cooking as well. The reason he could do so much was that the front counter (where you order and pay) is a vending machine. One simply looks at the screen above the vending machine and then punches the corresponding number. You plunk in the money and out shoots a ticket which you give to the worker. Shear brilliancy!
We then walked over the the Imperial Park which is kind of like Central Park if there was a castle in the middle of it. By that time, we were both exhausted and headed back to the hotel.
Dinner last night was in the mall beneath the station (a place called Porta) where we had those Osakan pancake thingies (come on Ikuo, what's their name?). Yum. We also did a little shopping as well, specifically we bought socks and finished up souvenir shopping.
This morning we walked to the famous Gion district where we watched about an hour of a 3 hour parade celebrating the Gion Festival. The parade floats were all pulled by hand which was impressive because each one probably held 15 men and was ~ 60 feet high. There were non-rotating wheels on the floats so to turn a corner the wheels had to be placed on logs/sticks and turned with sheer muscle force. It took 3-4 turns to get a float moved around a corner. Every time a turn was made the crowd cheered. It was truly impressive.
This afternoon consisted of going to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It was up near the top of a giant hill on the Eastern section of town. The views of Kyoto were magnificent. My favorite part was the large "veranda" which was made completely nail-less. The temple is actually a compound of temples with 3 story pagodas, large central temples, and little side buildings. There is also a lot of running water with streams from natural springs.
We then walked back to the hotel (where we write this) and have been enjoying keeping our feet up (they're a little sore).
We're off to Vietnam tomorrow by way of bullet train to Tokyo and then a plane to Ho Chi Minh City. We probably won't be able to write again until Saturday so see you then!