Ginkakuji

Piroko has always wanted to take me to Kyoto, her favorite sightseeing destination in Japan. Almost every time I’ve been in Japan has been during the summer, and Kyoto is unbearably hot then, so we never had a good chance to go. This time, though, it was supposed to be unbearably cold. Everyone told us it was record-settingly cold and that we should beware of instantly freezing to death upon disembarking the shinkansen. Having lived in Wisconsin for four years, we were able to shake off the cold pretty easily. Here’s our favorite spot in all of historical Kyoto, Ginkakuji, or the Silver Pavilion. We prefer its elegance to the Golden Pavilion’s extravagance.