Kyoto Day 3.

Max and I walked to a nearby playground while Hazel took her morning nap (at 7:30…) and Ben got some quiet.  Then we took the subway to the Kyoto City Zoo.  Max was starting to get tired of all the walking at this point so I don’t have many pictures of the cranky zoo visit.  It was a nice zoo, though.  We explored some more temples and shrines, including the Shoren-in Temple which was just beautiful.  It was an expansive indoor/outdoor space and so quiet and peaceful.  The landscaped gardens and bamboo groves were absolutely lovely.  Max enjoyed ringing the bell in the garden.  I think this was Max’s favorite site, other than the deer.  

Then we took the subway down to the Fushimi Inari shrine, which has 10,000 torii gates (the red doorways) in a row up Inari mountain.  I would have loved to hike to the top, but it was already nearing dusk and it takes a couple hours.  Our crew was pretty tired and hungry, so we just did the first few hundred meters and headed back toward home.  We took the subway back to a tasty pizza joint, then Ben and Max (literally) ran home.