D3 - Gardens in Kyoto

Route: within Kyoto
Bicycle: 42 km
Walking: 5 km
Total Ascent: 260 m

Average Speed: 10,9 km/h

Riding Time: 3:52 h
Weather: clouds, sun, windy and quite cold, 5 C

This whole trip came about because I got a ticket for Shugakuin imperial villa for today and there is a long weekend. So today first agenda point was the planned visit to this imperial villa on the outskirts of Kyoto. 

No idea how many imperial villas there are in Kyoto, but at least 3 as I have been previously to 2 others. This one is famous for its landscape garden incorporating the wider landscape, like an English garden.

Probably the English weren’t the only garden builders who realized that a garden can profit from its surroundings. Luckily for this garden, it is in the hilly part of Kyoto, still on the outskirts and thus the landscape is still there to act as a backdrop.

The garden is specially famous for its autumn colors. And now in February was a bit barren, no flowers yet, no leaves yet. But still nice… and this only means that I can come back here some day in the future.

In one of the buildings (none seemed really fit for living there…), was “one of the three best shelves” of Japan (per the description). I didn’t even know that this was a category to excel in.

After the visit I descended back into town, stopped along the way in an old fashioned ladies curry shop and then headed to the Mirei Shigemori house & garden, where I had a reservation for 14:00. I arrived a bit early so headed for some explorations of the surroundings, which is an important shrine. But what was really nice about that neighbourhood , how remote and tranquil it felt.

The garden is a Japanese zen like garden, which he built originally for a shrine building but then bought the house and garden and used it as residence. Residence with tea pavilion and all, but still quite a normal sized house. 

The small white stones represent the sea, the reddish wavey stones the shoreline that is awash with waves and the green moss populates islands in this sea with high, rocky mountains.

Although today the sun was shining (at times) it was really cold, so after the visit I decided to head back to my hotel, have an afternoon break , get my full gloves and then head out again to an onsen where I had been back in January and eaten very well. (The onsen is also okay, but the food was specially good.)

BTW, if you wonder what happened to D2 of this trip, well it was a rest day. It was cold and rainy so I decided to do some long overdue shopping: a new cover for my kotatsu futon and some zabuton to sit. I searched on Google maps and found a few potentially interesting stores, went to 2 and ordered in one. Both these stores where still producing their goods in Kyoto!