Louvre, Kyoto, and Dinner on the Porch
September 21, 2009
The Woman and I had a very rare weekday off together last week and we decided to spend the day out. It’s been awhile since our last date.
Louvre Exhibit
I mentioned in a previous entry that there was a Louvre Museum exhibit at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. While neither of us are big art buffs, it was something to do.
Although it was a Tuesday afternoon, the place was packed. We had to wait in a huge line outside of the museum for about an hour. To pass the time I decided to just make fun of random people. Seeing people with purple hair in Japan is not the rarest of things but seeing two of them at the same location is! Typically, only old women with no fashion sense dye their hair blue or purple and so it was that one old woman had purple hair and then a tall, older salaryman-type dude had purple hair. He also had a much younger girlfriend. I’m sure she loves him because he’s a family guy or he’s filled with love and passion.
Also, I was a blind old man lining up for the museum. This struck me as weird. I didn’t quite understand how one who is visually impaired might enjoy the museum. As it turns out, they didn’t even spring for the audio guide. I saw a younger women dictate the signs beside each painting to him. Weeyod.
The exhibit was quite interesting. There were a lot of Vermeer paintings. He’s one of the more interesting artists I know (and I know very few).
Around Kyoto
It was still quite early and we spent some time walking around Heian Jingu, Kamogawa around Sanjo and Shijo, and a quick stroll through Gion.
Dinner on the Porch
It was getting late by the time we finished walking and enjoying the sights and the weather. We both had never had dinner on the terraces beside Kamogawa, so, what the hell.
We walked through looking at the different menus at each restaurant and decided on a place that serves traditional Kyoto cuisine. The food was great even though the portions were quite tiny. The view was nice and the weather cooperated.
On the terrace, you have to sit on floor cushions and eat off a low table. My legs fell asleep almost immediately and I had to shift around quite often. The coincidence of the night – I saw my kung fu si hings Patrick, Pascal, and si je Mari walking along Kamogawa from the terrace. Pascal’s shining head gave him away.
In the end we paid about 10,000 yen for dinner – rather pricey. There was a 1,500 yen terrace charge per person. Not cheap!
