2014年12月5日金曜日 - 
Andrew: Shugakuin and Kiyomizudera
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Recently I’ve had a bit of spare time, so I decided to go to Kyoto
one day. I actually wound up pretty lucky, because I got
to visit Shugakuin Imperial Villa. You have to make
reservations, and the reservations for there and Katsura Imperial Villa are
usually booked a few months in advance. Someone had cancelled at the last
minute, however, so I was able to reserve a spot at Shugakuin for the very next
day! Next time I want to visit the Katsura Imperial Villa; it’s supposed to be
really nice in autumn when the leaves change color.
I had a really good time at Shugakuin. The Villa itself was really nice,
and the tour guide was quite knowledgeable. The leaves were so beautiful, too.
During the tour, I learned a lot of fascinating things. For example, this Villa
wasn’t used for entertaining people; it was just for the Emperor’s and Imperial
Family’s private use. Also, the Villa used to be a bit bigger, but some parts
of it got sold off and are now farmland.
It was an interesting contrast – we were walking between privately owned
fields, exploring the grounds of the Imperial Villa. Apparently the fields used
to have cherry blossom trees and some ponds, but these had obviously been drained. There was a big pond
with space for boats to go out and see everything, and I could imagine the
perfect time to do so would be in April. The Villa is partway up a mountain, so
you can usually see a lot of Kyoto City… Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy, so
we couldn’t see all the way. Still, I had a really good
time.
After that, I decided to go to Kiyomizudera. Although I had been in Japan
for a good while at that point, I had never visited the
famous temple. Even though it was a weekday, it was completely packed with tourists. Part of it
was under construction, so that was unfortunate. I could barely take pictures, and
the ones I did manage to take were usually filled with other tourists. The
highlight for me was when I got my fortune (omikuji).
It was an exceptionally good one, which is supposed to be pretty rare. Now I
just have to hope that everything comes true!
Afterwards, I enjoyed a really nice stroll around Higashiyama. I
enjoy walking around there, especially when it isn’t busy – the atmosphere is
completely different from most other places. I find it a bit ironic though, as
most of the shops are old-fashioned, but the buildings are actually quite new.
Moreover, a lot of the shops are selling touristy things – they’re usually a
bit too expensive for my taste.wound up：～の結果となった
Imperial Villa：離宮
in advance：あらかじめ
at the last minute：ギリギリで
sold off：売却
drained：水が干上がっていた
all the way：遥か彼方
at that point：その時点で
packed with：(人や物で)いっぱいで
under construction：工事中
barely：かろうじて
stroll：散歩