Kyoto: washout

Kyoto was a soggy washout. I had planned to spend the day walking through the traditional, historic parts of town, taking some wonderful photos to preserve the memories of a distant journey, but Nature has intervened. A daylong shitmist and ear-level clouds kept me to the covered shopping streets. The best finds were a bookstore with a good selection of English-language titles (the 7th floor of the BAL store, on Kawaramachi), a bar named Fenway Park, and a surprisingly good conveyor-sushi place. Every plate at the latter was 173 Yen (about $1.60) -- cheap enough and good enough for a serious pig-out.

The place where I stayed, the Kyoto Hotel Okura, is comfortable enough, but someone really ought to tell the management that the 1950s are over. The bellmen and bellwomen (ok, they wouldn't have had bellwomen in the 50s) all wear these ridiculous gray and burgundy uniforms with little hats that would be a parody of itself if it weren't, which it isn't. But the hotel's location is dead solid perfect -- next to Gion, 2 steps from the main shopping streets, and connected directly to the subway.

This country does so many things right, it's amazing. All of the trains and subways run *exactly* on time. (It made the news yesterday when one of the bullet train lines had a 2-hour delay.) And for those who don't like to schlep luggage, they offer this fantastic service where you can forward your suitcase(s) overnight to your next hotel. It's all cheap and convenient, and it makes travel infinitely simpler.