Eventually, we did arrive at Kansai, exchanged our vouchers for rail passes, and took the train into Kyoto. Our room at the Palace Side Hotel is pretty much wall-to-wall beds, with a tiny little bathroom, but it will do for sleeping and bathing between excursions.
Kyoto isn't quite what I expected. It not particularly picturesque. Rather, most of its buildings seem to be relatively modern. And, despite the early morning rain, it looks dusty, run down, all muted colors and crumbly edges. Mixed into this modern city, where the preferred mode of transportation seeems to be cycling, are quite a few traditional Japanese houses and shops with dark woodwork and tile roofs.Everything is so densely packed, though, that nothing in particular stands out. It is as though every building in the city is too discreet, too self-effacing, to let itself be noticed.
This is true even for palaces, shrines, and temples -- these are so well hidden behind shrubbery and fences that they seem to simply blend in, despite their remarkable age and beauty. It is very odd, but makes sense when I think of neighborhood churches in some parts of the US.
One exception to the generic blandness is a great vermillion torii that strides across a busy intersection in Gion, marking the approach to a Shinto shrine. Maybe tomorrow, when I am less tired and we go exploring those temples and gardens and shrines and other cultural markers, I will feel less disappointed.
