Our little hike from the Palace took us down what I thought would be only a few blocks across the Kamo River. We had to look like complete jackasses. Here's two gaijin, obviously lost, walking across a bridge on the highway and through busy avenues. Luckily other tourists had the same idea and we ran into quite a few foreign backpackers. When we finally got to the Kyoto Handicraft Center we were shopping like we were on a mission. Since we had very little time to buy anything during our vacation we decided this was going to be the perfect opportunity. El and I are notorious shoppers when we travel. We try not to fill our home with the usual lot of junk trinkets from trips. Instead we opt for art, textiles, pottery, jewelry - anything handmade and representative of wherever we travel. We were able to walk out with quite a bit including a beautiful, handpainted room panel; a wooden collectible Geisha doll for my sister, Rachel, who was watching our house and our dog, Bailey; a ceramic Sumo Wrestler knick knack; a woodblock print; and a cloisonne pendant I secretly bought as a gift for El that she was eyeing the other day. One of the outstanding purchases was three large (3'x4.5') Washi prints. Washi is handmade paper silkscreened with scenes of Japan. I was really hoping to purchase one the incredibly detailed antique kimonos, but El talked me out of it, though, as it was a question of how we could properly display it. Plus to boot they were anywhere from $500-$1000. I'm still regretting not buying one.
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