Diller Parents Visit: Kyoto

We can now say we have had visitors from the States!!! Joel's parents came to visit us for nearly two weeks at the end of April. It was AMAZING to have them here and they have proven themselves to be very brave and savvy travelers! From their plane landing unexpectedly in Fukuoka and having to figure out the Bullet train back to Iwakuni to exploring Hiroshima for two days and a night with only a PAPER map (old school, LOL!), they were AMAZING! I'm super impressed with their seeming lack of jet lag too - those two are first class world travelers. :)

The first thing we did was to take them to Kyoto to see the sights. This is definitely our favorite city in Japan - endless things to do and amazing restaurants!

First stop: Nijo Castle!

Exploring the castle grounds

We walked practically everywhere - good exercise plus it kept us hungry for all the good food!

Mr. Diller found a knife shop that has been in existence for over 100 years and the family continues to make their own blades. Both of us bought the one on the far left. And let me tell you, it cuts like no other.

The knife maker himself!

Ok, how to explain... this was the BEST ramen we have ever and will ever eat in our lives at a cute little restaurant called Gogyu. It's known in English as "burnt ramen" because they fry the noodles and somehow impart a burnt texture and flavor to the soup itself. It was a miso broth with black sesame and pretty much the most amazing thing I've eaten in Japan so far. LOVE.

This is Ginkakuji, known as the Silver Pavilion.

The grounds around the Pavilion were BEAUTIFUL.

Giant Torii Gate... I ran into the middle of the road to snap this shot

Hanging around the grounds of Sanjusangendo Hall... couldn't take pictures of the interior of the Hall itself but it was loaded with over 1000 life size statues of Buddha. 

Spring is such a great time of year!

So we took the Dillers to Tofuiro for dinner - if y'all recall, this is the tofu restaurant we went to the first time we traveled to Kyoto. Their set menu was entirely different this time (I think our first experience was better) but the Dillers were very brave in trying all of the tofu concoctions and sitting on the floor Japanese style! This was course number one - each item is made with fresh, made that day in the restaurant tofu!

Mastering the art of chopsticks

Yup - that's where we sat! Your legs definitely do fall asleep, ha ha!