Last day in Kyoto, bittersweet

All good things come to an end, just like today and like this precious trip we call a honeymoon. We've had such a blast here and explored all Kyoto has to offer. We missed a few things on our list but all in all, it's been a success and we've learned so much more about Japan, Kyoto, the culture and each other as world travelers. We've had so much time to spend just the two of us without any of the responsibilities we have in our regular lives. It's been nice to walk in a different direction each day and see what kind of adventure unfolds and share it with each other.
We stopped by some favorite spots today, the torii gate shrine Fushimi-Inari-Taisha and did some shopping. We ate a good lunch at a vending machine restaurant (gotta love vending machines) and dinner at our first sushi place here, Musashi Sushi. It seemed like a nice way to bring the circle to a close. We're gonna miss the food, Kevin maybe a bit more than me (I guess I like Chinese food more?), but the sushi and all the little rice triangles we're definitely going to try to replicate at home. Good memories all around.

Our favorite things about this trip (in no particular order):

• vending machines. the restaurants, the soda machines, the ice cream machines etc etc
• the crosswalk beeps/chirps
• riding the subway, always a bit confusing but funny too
• the food!!! sushi sushi sushi, soba noodles, ice cream, green tea cake
• Lawsons, 7&iHoldings, Family Mart, Circle K, Sunkus... you've kept us going on our long walks with your sweet convenience store offerings
• FRESCO: grocery store heaven and open 24/7. They even have a slogan on the window "open on a fine day, sunny day, rainy day and windy day"
• cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, flowers in general
• the cleanliness of streets
• high-tech toilets
• Japanese girls and their fashion sense and the fact that they wear high heels to sight-see and climb mountains =D
• the stores with little silk cat and other cute animal stuff, we bought tons of it and could have bought more if the budget had permitted, lol
• the people, so respectful and friendly
• the skills people have on their bikes, they dodge pedestrians and cars all while holding umbrellas, playing nintendo DS or even holding onto another bike.
• the drivers. how they ever do it here is beyond me.
• the temples, shrines and views of Kyoto
• the fact that almost all the dogs we've seen have worn little t-shirts, I love that cute is accepted here and not just practical (ahem, Finland you could learn...)
• drinking a different beer every night, all good!
• spending time with each other, you only go on a honeymoon once in a lifetime <3 

Hopefully you've enjoyed reading our blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it and I'm sure when we get back home and to the grind, we'll enjoy looking back at what we thought was worth telling the world.

So thanks for reading and sayonara!!!


We're off to the airport for our long trip back in 5 hours! Wowweee!

-Anneli and Kevin (sleeping again)...