Dress: Forever 21, Sweater: Gifted, Socks: American Apparel, Shoes: Dolce Vita (Thrifted)
Still working through all my Japan posts! I have dropped putting the day, because after this posts I think I will start combining my posts (plus, I skipped a day because it was a day of traveling between places, and a traveling outfit aka T-shirt and jeans)...But onto the blog posts!
This was a busy day! My friends and I hit up Arashiyama and Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine as well as wandering Kyoto..all in one day! However, looking through my pictures, I realize that I was so enthralled with everything (especially Arashiyama) I did not get a lot of pictures of some of the more stereotypical things (ex. bamboos). I ended up taking pics of myself at places pretty places that were not necessarily unique, but still very pretty. Just FYI, a lot of these pictures were taken in the surronding area of Arashiyama. There are a lot of cute cafes and small shops leading up to the bamboo forests and it's surronding gardens (we even found a cafe with the cutest old man serving percolator coffee in a waistcoat and bowtie). So, don't forget to explore the surronding area!
So, here'ss a quick breakdown of Arashiyama and Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine. Arashiyama may be known for the bamboo forest, but few people seem to acknowledge all the amazing gardens and views that surrond it. If you decide to wander the surronding gardens, you can find a small tea room that serves "free" (included with the price of admission to gardens) green tea and mochi. Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine is much larger than I thought! There are a lot of small shrines within the park, as well as a short and long hike you can take to get a better view of the Park (my friends and I took the short hike because we were not prepared for a long haul). If you walk around the park you can also find a small grave site with a water purification site. My advice, don't just visit the central tourist spot and rush through the sites, go explore!
Also, if you plan to go to Arashiyama or Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine then you should go during the work week and try and go early! My friends and I did both of these things and the spots were gratefully not that crowded! At Arashiyama, if you are lucky you will also get to see wedding photo shoots; prime photo shoot spot yo.
Slowly working through all my photos (and now I have my pictures from Seattle to go through as well *sigh*). Expect more from me soon (if my Anime Expo cosplay doesn't kill me). TTFN, ta ta for now.
