Visiting Kyoto

Staying in Tokyo was great, and it gave me my first impressions of Japan. After 2 nights at a hotel in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, I took a short flight to Osaka, which is where my host family is located.

Osaka is the third largest city in Japan (behind Tokyo) and is considered to be the "food capital of the world."

For more information about Osaka, here's the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka

My host family is incredibly nice. I now have a new host mother, father, grandfather, brother, and sister. They have taken very good care of me and they have already taken to a bunch of amazing places around Osaka.

Yesterday, I went with my host father and brother to the neighboring city of Kyoto. Kyoto is rich in history, or so I've been told, so we visited a famous shrine and a castle that once belonged to a shogun of Japan hundreds of years ago.

The Golden Shrine/Pavilion (Kinkaku)

Me with my host brother.

Looks like a postcard!

Taking a rest while enjoying tea and cakes.



Inside the tea house.



Sugoi! It's very good!

After the shrine, we visited a restored castle called "Nijo Castle." The castle was originally built in 1603 as the residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu.

The gardens look incredible!