Kyoto: Part 2/ The Geisha Platform Shoe, How Do They Walk In Them?!!

Geisha Shoes, what a platform!

 We managed to do other Geisha things in Kyoto besides dressing up!  We spent a day with a real Maiko Geisha, watching her perform the tea ceremony, dance, and play games.  She needs a special pillow to sleep with that hairdo!  She changes her outfit once a month and has her hair done once a week. Plus all that shuffling about!

Calligraphy

We had a calligraphy lesson with an expert, just to give it a go.  Anna was much better than it than I was.  Teacher shook his head several times each time I drew a character.  Drawing is definitely not my strong suit.

Food, again.

 In Kyoto there is the famous area of Pontocho, full of bars, restaurant and a pedestrian street.
My girlfriend Kaori kindly gave me the name of a great place "Pon Tako" which has wonderful Okonomiyaki (seen below).  They call it a Japanese pizza, but frankly, nothing about it reminds me of a pizza. It's a grilled pancake with everything in it and a wonderful brown sauce (not dissimilar in taste to the English brown sauce).  Yum!!

Food, again and again. We are loving it! Definitely carb loading. How do the women stay so tiny?!

And sooo reasonable for so many courses. Most meals are under £12 a head, with tea.

Japanese breakfast at our ryokan Yoshinoya.

Soba lunch and gyoza to go