Kyoto

Yesterday we rode the Shinkansen to the culturally rich city of Kyoto. Although, since we're traveling with a five year old, it's unlikely we'll see much of the 1600 Buddhist temples or the 400 Shinto shrines. Instead, our agenda for today is the Iwatayama Monkey Park and maybe the grandest of temples, Ginkaku-ji. Last evening, after a series of family races around the 1.8km gravel loop at Takara-ga-ike-koen (a park) where Roo repeatedly marked the start and finish line, we hopped in a taxi to find dinner. Our thoughts were on American food and Lonely Planet boasted of an establishment called "Speak Easy". While in transit, the driver called for the address. Based on the tone of his voice we suspected something wasn't as expected. Sure enough, when we arrived at the restaurant, it was closed.

But, a young aproned woman was waiting for us outside the open door. They were closed, but willing to serve us because they understood we had a little boy who was hoping to eat American. According to Roo she was "the nicest lady in the whole world".