Tag: Spiritual

Posted in English, Europe, Florence, Italy

Florence – Day 3

Posted on by travellingleila

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April 24 2026 – Friday

Today I was supposed to have a relaxed and calm morning. I got up fairly early, driven by the desire to have tiramisu for breakfast. Unusual, I know, but I absolutely had to eat tiramisu in Italy, and there wasn’t really any other occasion to squeeze it in. So, I very purposefully headed to a posh café called Rivoire, on Piazza della Signoria with a view of Palazzo Vecchio, and treated myself to an omelette (for protein and balance) and an excellent small portion of tiramisu.


After that, I had a free morning before my Chianti tour, and again on Claude’s recommendation, I decided to visit the Basilica of Santa Croce. Entry cost 10 euros.

But it was fascinating, and overall, I actually liked the interior way more than the Duomo’s. There were various frescoes, as well as the tombs of famous people – Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, Rossini.

After the basilica there wasn’t particularly much else to do, so I found a specialty coffee shop and spent some time there. I noticed a man ordering a croissant with a Nutella filling and a coffee. And he paid 3.5 euros for all of it. Honestly, that shocked me, because in both London and especially Baku, the coffee alone would cost more than that. And here it was 3.5 euros!

For an early lunch I planned to have another one of those schiacciata sandwiches. I found a couple of highly rated places and, once there, chose the one with the shorter queue and got another salami sandwich – honestly, it feels like I’m surviving entirely on cured meats here.

On Piazza della Signoria I came across some kind of celebration – today, April 25th, is a national holiday in Italy, Liberation Day from Fascist occupation.

And by 2pm I arrived at the Santa Maria Novella railway station, which was the meeting point for our Chianti wine tour.

While waiting for the tour, I met an American woman who told me her daughter lives in Barcelona and she had been visiting her. Her husband doesn’t like travelling, so she mostly travels without him. She had absolutely no idea what Azerbaijan was, though she admitted herself that Americans aren’t particularly strong at geography. Her parents were from Latin America, so she speaks excellent Spanish, and even spoke to the guide in Spanish rather than English. She said that ever since she was young, she’d been used to the idea that in Europe it’s better not to advertise that you’re American – and now, with the arrival of the “orange man”, as she called him, even more so.

As for the tour itself, the drive there took an hour and the drive back another hour, while we spent about two hours there. We went to Monteriggioni, in the Chianti region of Tuscany, roughly between Florence and Siena, to a winery called Poggio ai Laghi. It turned out not to be quite what I had expected, because I had imagined something outdoors, surrounded by those famous Tuscan vineyard landscapes.

In reality, they only showed us the vineyards briefly from the side and allowed us to take photos there, but there was no actual walk outdoors. We spent most of the time inside, where we tasted seven wines. Yes, it was interesting, tasty and informative, but not entirely what I had imagined.

As for the wine itself, there are fairly strict rules for producing Chianti Classico. Firstly, at least 80% of the grapes must be the local Sangiovese variety. Secondly, the vineyards are not artificially irrigated and rely entirely on rainfall, so naturally wines from different years vary.

We first tried a sparkling white wine, then a regular white, which I didn’t particularly like because it tasted rather watery.

After that we tried three red wines, all very different. One was a younger Classico, the second a Riserva with a strong cherry flavour, which I liked the most, and the third was an IGT – not necessarily a lower category, but apparently with a lower required percentage of the grape variety.

What was interesting was that before, when people talked about notes of tobacco, leather and so on, it never really meant anything to me. But when you actually taste these different wines, you really can notice the differences and all those flavour notes. At the end we also had a dessert wine.

Alongside all this there were snacks – we got to try their balsamic vinegar, olive oils (including truffle oil), and of course cheese, a couple of types of salami, prosciutto and bread. Honestly, after all that I barely even needed dinner, because I kept snacking throughout the tasting.

And toward the end, while we were already slowly getting ready to leave, one of the administrators caught us and offered us two additional wines that hadn’t been included in the tasting itself. One was an Classico Riserva, and the other was something called Donna Ava, apparently the winery’s most expensive wine, reserved for special occasions, as he put it.

I’ve always said I can’t tell the difference between a 10-euro wine and a 100-euro wine, but if you actually taste different wines side by side, you really can tell.

Although to be fair, the cheaper wines there weren’t 10 euros – they were more like 40–50. Those prices included shipping to various countries, but there was one price for the EU and the US, and another for the rest of the world – and our post-Brexit United Kingdom naturally falls into “the rest of the world.” They did say they could offer me some sort of discount, but the problem was that I couldn’t take the wine with me because I didn’t have checked luggage, and deliveries required a minimum order of six bottles, so I declined.

They also said they don’t sell these wines to restaurants or shops, only exclusively at the winery itself. Each bottle features a woman on the label – every wine is dedicated to the medieval noblewoman Donna Ava of Monteriggioni or one of her seven maidservants (Lucilla, Oletta, Nina, Arania, Aranda, Arella and Firmina).

The symbol of Chianti Classico is a black rooster on the bottle. There is a legend about this. Historically, Florence and Siena were always rivals. One day, to establish the border between the two cities, it was agreed that after the first rooster crowed at sunrise, riders from each city would set out toward each other, and the border would be placed where they met. The people of Siena chose a white rooster, while the Florentines chose a black one and deliberately kept it hungry. As a result, the starving rooster crowed way before dawn, allowing the Florentine rider to set off earlier and ride almost all the way to Siena.

When we got back, naturally I didn’t feel like having dinner anymore, but I did feel like ice cream, so I walked once more toward the river and the bridge and had some gelato.

I ended up doing 23,000 steps that day, and by noon alone I had already done 10,000 – despite the fact that this was supposed to be a relaxed morning.

It was my last day in Florence – tomorrow morning I’m heading back.

Posted in English, Europe, Florence, Italy

Florence – Day 2

Posted on by travellingleila

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April 24 2026 – Friday

Today I slept very poorly, because at 4:30am some large vehicle – either a garbage truck or a street-cleaning machine, I couldn’t quite tell – pulled up right under my window and stayed in the same spot for at least an hour, making unbelievably loud noises. I never figured out what it was doing there, since I couldn’t properly see it from my window, but it was impossible to sleep, and I only managed to drift off for a bit once it had left, even though I then had to get up early for all my tours.

I don’t have breakfast at the hotel, so in the morning I went straight to a bar right opposite as soon as it opened. It’s a traditional kind of place – coffee in the morning, wine in the evening. I went in literally as the woman working there opened the shutters, and at the same time quite a few other people came in. I sat down to eat and watch people, and came to the conclusion that these coffee bars are the local equivalent of our “day-day kafesi” (“cafes for uncles”), because the entire time I was there, various working-looking men kept coming in for a quick espresso, drinking it right at the counter, exchanging a few words with the barista or each other, and leaving.

I had a ticket to the Accademia Gallery for 9am, and there was a bit of a hiccup. The booking page showed two locations on the map: one was the entrance to the gallery, and the other was supposedly the meeting point with an agency representative who was meant to exchange my voucher for an actual ticket. It said something like, “our staff in yellow vests will meet you there”.

I arrived and saw the gallery entrance with a queue, along with various representatives from different agencies – but not the one I needed. Meanwhile, Google Maps sent me in a completely different direction, where there was no sign at all, and the meeting point was marked in front of what looked like a hotel. Then a couple approached the same spot, with phones in hand, also looking for the people in yellow vests – but there weren’t any.

I started to suspect that this probably wasn’t the right place, and after unsuccessful attempts to call or message anyone on WhatsApp, we collectively decided to go back to the gallery, queue up, and try to get in with the voucher.

In the end, we joined the 9am queue (there was a separate one for each time slot), and when it was our turn, we were told that we did indeed need to exchange the vouchers and pointed to not one, but three people in yellow vests standing nearby. Of course, it was a completely different location – the street number was correct, but somehow Google Maps sent us to the wrong place.

Anyway, everything worked out, and at 9am sharp I walked into the gallery. I should say I came to the conclusion that museums and galleries need to be approached strategically. No one has the time or energy to see everything. For example, in this case, you know you’re going there to see David, so you plan everything around David.

So, I didn’t waste much time looking at the paintings in the first room, just gave them a quick glance and went straight to David. On the way, there were also the four unfinished sculptures of “Slaves” that Michelangelo was working on for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

David itself, of course, immediately stands out – it’s huge, five metres tall. Interestingly, the proportions are intentionally distorted – the head and right hand are unnaturally large, because the sculpture was meant to be viewed from below. Also, it’s carved from a single block of marble that had previously been considered defective and that no one wanted to work with.

All in all, I spent no more than half an hour in the Accademia Gallery and moved on. I then had a ticket to the Uffizi Gallery for 11am. On the way, I stopped for an espresso in one of the coffee bars – the espresso here could wake the dead, which was very helpful after a half-sleepless night.


At the Uffizi there were also different queues for different time slots, and it turned out that although I had booked for 11, I was assigned the nearest available slot at 11:30. There was no point trying to get in earlier, so in the meantime I looked at the sculptures in the open-air Loggia dei Lanzi, including Cellini’s “Perseus with the Head of Medusa.” There’s also another David nearby – a replica, of course. I had some delicious dark chocolate gelato, and then went back to the Uffizi.

While I was standing in line, a Russian-speaking couple arrived and casually squeezed into the middle of the queue. Only my very unfriendly look ensured that they moved behind me rather than in front of me.

I have to say, despite the unfriendly look, I was really looking forward to visiting the Uffizi. It gave me goosebumps to think that someone had created a sculpture or painted a picture, and 500 years later people are spending money and standing in queues in order to see their work.

I approached this gallery strategically as well and selected eight paintings I absolutely had to see: Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Two Angels, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch, Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, Titian’s Venus of Urbino, and Caravaggio’s Medusa. I planned my entire route around these with the help of ChatGPT, to be as efficient as possible and see everything. All the other paintings I saw were along this route. As a result, I enjoyed this visit enormously, which is not always the case with museums and galleries.

The visit took about an hour and a half, which, in my opinion, is more than enough to avoid getting too tired and not to spread your attention too thinly. Afterwards, feeling completely satisfied, I went for lunch – beef sirloin with arugula and parmesan. This time I skipped wine, and as it soon became clear, that was a very wise decision.

Next on the agenda, with a pre-booked ticket, was climbing Giotto’s Campanile next to the Duomo (the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore) at 4:30pm. I still had plenty of time, which I decided to spend walking around the cathedral to see it from all sides.

Entry to the cathedral was free, though with a small queue, so I decided to go inside as well. I have to say, from the outside the cathedral is absolutely stunning – I would probably call it one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, I’ve ever seen. But inside, it didn’t strike me as anything extraordinary. I’ve seen much more impressive cathedrals – there’s no comparison at all with the Sagrada Família, for example. The only really striking feature is the dome and its frescoes.


After that, I went to see the San Lorenzo Market. The market consists of an outdoor section with souvenir and leather stalls, and a covered food hall with produce vendors – cheeses, meats, snacks, sandwiches. I imagine it must be packed at lunchtime, but I went in the afternoon – there were people, but not even all the stalls were open anymore.

And finally – the bell tower, and this was quite an adventure. I keep telling myself never to climb another tower again, but somehow I always end up doing it anyway.

Compared to Venice, where the Campanile takes you up and down by lift and all you have to do is enjoy the view, this is nothing like that.

To reach the top viewing platform, you have to climb 414 steps. When I googled it, it didn’t seem too bad, because I’m usually afraid of spiral staircases, and the photos showed straight ones. And they were straight at first. Very narrow, though, with people going both up and down at the same time, squeezing past each other – and there were no railings at all, just bare stone walls.

The worst part was that in the end there was indeed a spiral staircase leading to the very top. I made it up, trying not to think about how I’d get down later.

Of course, the view from the top is stunning – you see the Duomo dome at eye level, looking at the people standing there, while they look back at you. But the descent was honestly a nightmare. I had a proper panic attack – it was already scary going down, there was nothing to hold onto, and on top of everything there was a constant flow of people climbing up, so I had to stand in awkward positions waiting for them to pass. At one point, some Italians even asked (in Italian!) if I was scared and offered me their arms to hold onto.

I somehow made it down, and once again I swear I will never climb another tower again! And yes, good thing I didn’t have wine at lunch – this was not exactly fun even when completely sober.

By then it was already getting close to dinner time – a bit early, but I was quite hungry, so I headed to the LiVio pizzeria, which had been recommended to me as one of the best in town. And unlike the rather mediocre pizza I had in Venice, this one really was excellent.


My food adventures didn’t end there, because after dinner I decided to have a limoncello spritz elsewhere, and was unexpectedly served a complimentary bruschetta with tomatoes.

In general, I’m definitely eating much more than usual here – more fat, more sugar, more carbs in general. But I believe that any trip is also a chance to immerse yourself in the culinary culture of a place, alongside everything else, so I don’t regret anything!

After all that, I wandered around a bit more near my hotel – exploring parts of the area I hadn’t seen yet.

Posted in English, Europe, Italy, Venice

Venice – Day 2

Posted on by travellingleila

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October 26 – Sunday

The second day started very early, but luckily the clocks changed today, so I gained an extra hour. I ended up waking at 6am – earlier than I needed to, by the way – and packed my suitcase, since I’m moving to another hotel today, closer to the airport, to make things easier for my very early flight.

To kill some time before breakfast, I decided to take a short walk in the area, especially since I hadn’t actually seen St Mark’s Square yet. I have a tour of St Mark’s Basilica (and a few other landmarks) planned for today, but I wanted to see everything in the morning, before the crowds and before the marathon – which is the reason today’s island tour meeting point was moved.

Breakfast at the hotel didn’t strike me as anything special, but it was fine. After breakfast, I left my suitcase in the storage room and set off along the route I already knew toward the statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. It was a very pleasant walk through early-morning Venice, before the city got too crowded.

I found my group and our guide very easily. The guide – a very nice woman named Serena – shared lots of interesting facts about Venice throughout the journey. For example, that Venice, built on rather marshy terrain, has actually been standing on wooden piles for over 15 centuries, and due to the anaerobic conditions, these piles haven’t just not rotted, but they have basically turned to stone.

She also mentioned that the “fish” shape of Venice on the map is actually not a single island, but a multitude of smaller ones, each separated by canals, many of which are manmade.

During high tide – the so-called acqua alta – the city sometimes floods, and we’ll come back to that later. But for now, here’s an interesting fact: in 2019, there was one of the worst floods in recent decades (only once in history has the water been higher), which caused significant damage to St Mark’s Basilica. As a result, a super-expensive flood defence system was built, made up of gates and dams – but it’s so costly to operate that it’s only used in absolute emergency cases.

Apparently, in recent years there’s also been a trend of residents moving out of the city to the mainland and renting their homes out on Airbnb, because, firstly, it’s become expensive to live in Venice; secondly, it’s overcrowded with tourists; and thirdly, it’s simply inconvenient to live on a massive pedestrian-only territory, where you can’t even get close to your house with e.g. heavy shopping bags. So, there’s a real risk that in the near future, Venice will essentially turn into a giant open-air museum.

Meanwhile, listening to all these fascinating stories, we arrived at the island of Murano, world-famous for its glassmaking – I think everyone’s heard of Murano glass.

On the way, Serena pointed out some tiny islands – some with abandoned monasteries, one with an active monastery (where you can stay overnight, but only for spiritual purposes), and another with a Michelin-starred vineyard that produces the very expensive Venissa wine from slightly salty local grapes.

As for Murano glassmaking, the glass furnaces were originally moved here from Venice proper, both for fire safety reasons and to maintain strict secrecy of the techniques. We were taken to a workshop – on Sundays, the industrial furnaces don’t operate, but they still do demonstrations for tourists. First, the master glassblower (yes, he actually blew glass using a blowing pipe) made a vase for us – and to show how hot it was, the guide threw a piece of paper inside and it instantly burst into flames. Then, without blowing, the master made a small glass horse in under five minutes.

We were told that most shops in Venice claiming to sell Murano glass are actually selling fakes, whereas here, at their showroom, everything is authentic and comes with a certificate. Well, who am I to resist buying a couple of pieces of jewellery?

With some time left before the boat, I tried walking to the centre of the island, but there was nothing interesting there at all, so I quickly returned.

From Murano we went to Burano. This one was a much more picturesque island. Originally a fishing village, it’s known for its colourful houses. One theory says the houses were painted bright colours so fishermen could easily find their homes; another says it helped distinguish between families with the same surname. In any case, all houses really are painted different colours, and you’re not allowed to repaint them.

Burano is also famous for its lace, but sadly this craft is dying out, because the youngest lacemakers are already over 70, and the new generation isn’t interested in such painstaking manual work. We were taken to a lace shop where we saw one of these elderly lacemakers at work. We were told that each lacemaker specialises in a specific type of stitch.

Then we had about an hour of free time. Serena strongly recommended trying the local biscuits, but I didn’t feel like biscuits – instead, I treated myself to a big coffee and hazelnut gelato, had a coffee, and went for a walk and took photos.

We came back to Venice around lunchtime, and I went to a well-reviewed pizzeria – but to be honest, I can’t say it was the best pizza I’d ever had. Maybe pizza just has to be eaten in Naples, or maybe I just ended up in an overrated tourist spot.

After lunch, I headed to the Basilica to make it in time for my tour. And good thing I went early, because I saw firsthand what acqua alta actually looks like! I’d already noticed on Burano that the canals were starting to overflow, with water coming out of manholes.

Well, the same thing was happening in St Mark’s Square, which is the lowest point in Venice. It was seriously flooded – the slowest marathon runners were still finishing the race, while in some parts of the square the water was already ankle-deep or more. And all this without a single drop of rain, purely from the tide. It was impossible to reach the Basilica without getting your feet wet, and I couldn’t get across the square to the tour meeting point – I had to go around the perimeter and still got a bit soaked.

There were quite a few kiosks on the square where enterprising vendors – the ones normally selling scarves to visitors who forgot to cover their shoulders for religious buildings – suddenly pulled out some kind of plastic overshoes or knee-high boots (clearly, this is a common occurrence!) and started selling them. Our guide said we’d have to walk through water to get into the Basilica, so we’d be better off either taking our shoes off or buying those covers – I did the latter.

I saw the Basilica, with its amazing mosaics, and went up to the second-floor museum, displaying various relics, Byzantine artefacts, and fragments of older mosaics. I also stepped out onto the terrace and watched the last marathon runners down below.

Next on the tour was the Doge’s Palace, right next door, where I looked at different rooms. The ceilings were truly luxurious, covered in gold leaf, paintings, and genuine masterpieces by famous Venetian artists. The palace also includes a prison, connected with the main building by the so-called Bridge of Sighs – named for the fact that prisoners would see the outside world for the last time through its window and, presumably, sigh.

I finished the tour earlier than expected, so I had some time before my visit to the bell tower (Campanile) of St Mark’s. I strolled along the promenade, where the marathon barriers had already been removed. The crowd was enormous – apparently a mix of marathon finishers and other tourists.

I ended up getting into the Campanile half an hour earlier than my booked slot – fortunately, they let me in. The whole attraction is the viewing platform at the top, which you reach by lift. I happened to be there right at sunset, and got to see Venice from above in the evening light, taking some beautiful photos.

In the evening, I had to move to a different hotel near the airport, as I have a very early flight tomorrow, as mentioned, and running around pedestrian-only Venice at 4am looking for transfer options didn’t seem like a great idea.

Before that, I decided to have dinner – something light, after the pizza earlier – and I wanted to try local cicchetti. This Venetian speciality consists of small tapas-like bites with all kinds of toppings, the most famous being a paste made from dried cod, called baccalà.

I tried two types of cicchetti with cod, one with salmon, and one with salami – and I liked them all!

Then I picked up my suitcase from the first hotel and set off. First, I took a vaporetto (water bus) from near the Rialto Bridge, and then a regular bus from Piazzale Roma to the airport area. Initially, I thought I’d walk to Piazzale Roma, but then I found out I’d have to take a boat partway anyway, so I ended up just taking the vaporetto.

The hotel’s location was very odd – I had to get off the bus right in the middle of a highway, with no pavement or footpath in sight, and then walk for about 10 minutes. But at least tomorrow at 4:30 a.m., the shuttle will pick me up and get me to the airport in just 5 minutes.

Posted in English, Europe, Porto, Portugal

Portugal – Day 5

Posted on by travellingleila

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April 19 – Friday

On the last day, we were very unlucky with the weather. Rain had been in the forecast all week, and it did come – fortunately, only in the afternoon.

We got up, had breakfast, and then made a second attempt to get into the Majestic Café and have coffee there. We got in, but there was nothing special about it – all its popularity is nothing more than tourist hype. A café like any other.

Then we tried to get into Livraria Lello – the most famous bookstore in Porto, said to have inspired the idea of Hogwarts. As is known, J.K. Rowling lived in Porto for a while, and it was supposedly in the Majestic Café that she wrote Harry Potter. To be honest, I can’t imagine how anyone could write in such a loud and pompous place, but then again, I’m not Rowling! We didn’t get into Livraria – same story, a huge queue. Later we found out that entry is paid and costs 5 euros, but we gave up anyway.

We decided to go shopping and went to the Via Rua Catarina shopping centre, where we did quite well. There are both local Portuguese brands and European ones. We also had lunch at the food court. And when we came out, it was already pouring rain. We had to buy umbrellas right then and there.

Somehow we ran back to the hotel and rested. In the evening, we had a light show planned in the centre, at the Clérigos Church. We left a little early, hoping to climb the Clérigos Tower first, but in such weather – barely making it to Clérigos in short dashes – we decided against climbing any towers.

I really liked the light show. It lasted for half an hour and was a kind of combination of old (baroque!) and new technologies – essentially a very spectacular and colorful digital animation with beautiful orchestral music.

In the evening, we had dinner with traditional Portuguese fado. The dinner included a starter, main course, dessert, and half a bottle of wine – everything was very tasty. I also really enjoyed the performance – such soulful romances.

Posted in English, Europe, Lisbon, Portugal

Portugal – Day 1

Posted on by travellingleila

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April 17, 2023

Technically, my trip to Portugal was supposed to start two days ago – on Saturday, April 15 – and I’d already bought a ticket for that date well in advance. But literally 36 hours before, when I received an email saying that online check-in was open and started entering my details at 1 a.m., I suddenly looked closely at my Schengen visa and realised that it was only valid from April 17. The old one had expired on the 13th, and the new one was valid from the 17th – so I had managed to buy a ticket for one of those unlucky four days when I didn’t have a visa. I had to urgently change it and buy a new one for 6 a.m. on Monday.

As a result, I had to wake up today at 2 a.m., and by 2:45 I was already in a taxi on my way to Heathrow. Everything went smoothly – unsurprisingly, there weren’t many people at the airport at that hour, so I didn’t have to queue for anything. I even managed to find coffee and oatmeal cookies. Special mention goes to a fellow passenger who showed up at 3:30 a.m. in full makeup – truly impressive.

By 10 a.m., I had arrived at the hotel in Lisbon, where my friend Rena – who’d flown in on Saturday, as originally planned – was already waiting for me.

I had another strong coffee (no joke, I’d been up since 2 a.m. and hadn’t slept a minute on the plane), and then we headed out for a walk around the Baixa district.

It is sunny and hot in Lisbon – a touch of summer after London’s unseasonably cold spring.

The city itself is very hilly – you’re constantly going up and down, and of course the “down” is much more pleasant. There are quite a few tourists, mostly French as far as I can tell – at least, they’re the ones you most often come across.

The city is stunning, with very interesting architecture. Many buildings are decorated with clay tiles – painted in the traditional Portuguese style. These tiles are called azulejos.

We’d headed to Baixa quite purposefully – our first stop for the day was the Carmo Convent, which now houses an archaeological museum. In 1755, Lisbon was hit by a devastating earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, and as a result almost the entire city was destroyed. For instance, only the shell of the Carmelite monastery remained, and that’s how it still stands today.

Afterwards, we had lunch – some fish – in a tiny tavern, and then visited Lisbon Cathedral (Sé), and saw the cloisters and treasury.

For the evening, we had planned a cruise along the Tagus River (which also flows through Spain – it starts there and reaches the Atlantic near Lisbon). We’d been told that seating on the deck was limited to the first 52 people, and when we arrived, there were already well over that many in the queue. Still, we somehow managed to score great spots – a table at the very front of the deck, right at the bow, next to a group of Germans.

Posted in Asia, English, Japan, Kyoto

Japan – Day 9

Posted on by travellingleila

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31 May 2025

Today is our last day in Kyoto. We woke up very early again and had breakfast in a French café.

Since it was early, we decided to go to Gion again and take another look at the geisha quarter and the streets around the Yasaka Pagoda, which we hadn’t properly explored a couple of days ago when it was crowded and we were in a rush. We figured there would be fewer people at this time – and we were right. Of course, there were the occasional enthusiastic Chinese tourists who got up early and even dressed in kimonos to take photos before the crowds arrived. But overall, there weren’t many people, so we were able to enjoy the Yasaka Pagoda and the historic streets of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka in relative peace.

However, we still didn’t manage to spend a lot of time there – we were feeling cold, and it also started to rain. I’ve actually been joking that the head of the local meteorological service should commit hara-kiri – the forecasts here are so unreliable that you almost need to do the opposite of what they tell you. For example, yesterday the forecast promised cool weather and rain, but not a drop fell – it was 26 degrees, hot and stuffy. And today, on the contrary, it promised 23–24 degrees, with sunshine, and zero chance of rain – but couldn’t even forecast an hour ahead, because it was grey and chilly, and the rain started almost immediately.

So we went back to the hotel to change clothes and grab an umbrella, and then we went our separate ways. I went to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, while Rena had already been there on her last visit and didn’t want to go a second time. Not surprising – the shrine is located on Mount Inari, and the main shrine is at the top. The whole round trip takes about two hours, so doing it once is probably enough.

The temple is famous for the more than ten thousand orange torii gates that line the entire route up and down the mountain, forming tunnels of gates you walk through. I arrived around mid-morning, and there was an absolute sea of people. Especially at the entrance to the first “corridor” of torii gates, there was a continuous flow. Everyone was trying to take photos, but there was hardly any space to move.

Apparently, people didn’t realize that the torii gates would continue all the way to the top of the mountain – or maybe they just didn’t feel like climbing there. Some were dressed in kimonos, some even in evening dresses – where would you go in heels or socks with flip-flops up a mountain?

To be honest, I wasn’t planning to go all the way to the top either. I thought I’d climb a little, take some photos of the gates from different angles, see a few shrines, and call it a day. But then, for some reason, I got caught up in the excitement – maybe it was the signs at each rest stop showing how much further to the summit. Especially that the higher you go, the fewer people there are. I was able to peacefully explore the shrines and the torii gates – for example, the back of each gate is covered in kanji. It might seem like some sacred texts, but it’s actually just the names of those who donated each gate – there are even a few rare inscriptions in Latin script. The route isn’t one straight path – there are forks leading to smaller, secondary shrines, and rest areas with toilets, a small shop, and an ice cream stand.

One route led up, the other down. In the end, very few people made it to the summit, so I could take photos in peace. By then, though, I was completely drenched in sweat – and that was despite the spitting rain and cool weather.

After the shrine, I was supposed to meet up with Rena for lunch at a ramen place – but there was a slight hitch. We didn’t align when we arrived and stood in the queue, so I ended up going in first and tried to save her a seat next to me, but they didn’t allow that – we had to sit separately. The concept of this (chain) restaurant is that visitors sit alone, separated from each other by plywood dividers. There’s also a divider between guests and staff – you just pass them a piece of paper with your order number and the desired spice level, noodle firmness, etc., and they place your ramen through a small window.

So, in the end, we didn’t sit next to each other – but it was fine. After lunch, we walked around the shops and bought some Korean cosmetics.

Then our tired legs started reminding us of themselves – and of all the previous days, each of which involved at least 20,000 steps. We had to find a café to sit down in – we found one in a small side street. In general, I have to say that all the little backstreets in Kyoto feel the same – I honestly couldn’t tell the street our hotel is on apart from another one a kilometre or two away.

After coffee, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. And then it was already evening, so we headed to a recently opened izakaya, where we had all sorts of interesting dishes, like some kind of whelk in an unusual sauce, but also quite plain donburi with chicken and egg (a sort of chigirtma–plov à la Japonaise) – and drank fragrant sake.

After that, we continued the evening at an Irish pub we’d spotted earlier – but only briefly, since it turned out to be a bit of a dive. On a Saturday evening, there were hardly any people: there was a cheerful Japanese group celebrating something in the private room, and in the main area – just a couple of foreigners, plus us.

Posted in Asia, English, Hiroshima, Japan, Miyajima

Japan – Day 6

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28 May 2025

Today we went to Miyajima Island right in the morning. Prior to that, we had breakfast at our hotel – we tried the buffet on the 25th floor, which had a really cool view of the city. The breakfast offered both Western and Japanese options, including local Hiroshima specialties like fish cakes and fish sausage.

We walked to Shin-Hakushima Station, passing by the castle we visited yesterday – which, in daylight, looked a little less impressive than it did lit up at night. The train took about 20 minutes to get us to the ferry terminal, accompanied by a noisy Iranian tour group. From the terminal, ferries from two different companies run frequently to Miyajima, and the crossing only takes 10 minutes. From the ferry, we got a great view of the famous “floating” torii gates.

There were tons of tourists on the island – but despite its small size, it didn’t feel crowded. Somehow, everyone seemed to spread out. Most tourists were local Japanese, but there were also quite a few foreigners – the Germans again made a noticeable appearance.

Stray deer roam freely on the island – so there’s no need to go to Nara to see them. That said, the ones here seem hungrier and more persistent. We didn’t even think of eating anything outside, but we saw others who did and clearly regretted it, trying in vain to fend off the pushy deer.

Once on the island, we wandered through the charming streets of Miyajima toward the Itsukushima Shrine – the one the “floating” torii gate belongs to. Interestingly, the gate doesn’t “float” all the time – only at high tide. So when we arrived in the morning, it was surrounded by water, but by around 3 p.m., it was already on dry land, with people walking right up to it and through it.

The shrine is Shinto, and the entrance fee is 300 yen (about £1.50), but at the moment, much of it is closed for restoration. Unfortunately, the nearby five-tiered pagoda from the 15th century was also under restoration – we didn’t even recognise it at first, and thought it was a new building going up in the middle of this historical island! So when we climbed up to the Hokoku Temple, we weren’t able to see it.

We then continued up to Daisho-in Temple – unlike the shrine and like Hokoku, this one is Buddhist. From here, you can hike to the top of Mount Misen, but we decided not to do that and just enjoyed the temple itself.

The path to the temple was calm and peaceful. Of course, tourists come here too (the same noisy Iranian group was there), but not in overwhelming numbers. Many worshippers were also present, performing rituals. For example, you can strike a large bell and make a wish – though you have to pay. Sure, you can do it for free, but I would imagine that the local higher powers probably don’t grant free wishes.

They say (and back it up with photos!) that the views from the temple in autumn are absolutely spectacular – but even in May, for some reason, many trees were already red, so it was beautiful anyway. We really liked the temple.

By then it was lunchtime, so we headed back down toward the pier and went into one of the local restaurants to try regional cuisine. We were seated in a “Japanese room” – many places here offer that option – which means sitting on tatami mats at a low table, shoes off. The regional specialties are grilled eel and oysters, which we had in a set meal with buckwheat noodles (soba). It was interesting to try, but I wouldn’t call it my favourite flavour of Japan.

Another local delicacy is momiji manju – maple-leaf-shaped cakes with sweet fillings. The traditional version has sweet bean paste, which I didn’t like, but the chocolate and custard-filled ones were very tasty and delicate.

After lunch, we strolled through covered streets filled with cafés, food stalls, and souvenir shops – including some Ghibli-themed ones that were much better than the museum shop we saw yesterday.

Then we stopped for coffee at a place we’d spotted earlier that looked like someone’s private garden. And as far as I could tell, that’s exactly what it was – a house and garden converted into a café, run by two elderly women. The garden was beautifully maintained and very traditionally Japanese, and it was such a pleasant spot to relax. At first there were some noisy customers chatting loudly, but they left soon after.

From there, we headed back to the ferry. For some reason, at that time there were schoolchildren in uniforms everywhere – whole classes, probably on school trips. Some were arriving, some were leaving, some were gathered for class photos.

Back in Hiroshima, we decided to walk through the Peace Memorial Park and visit the Atomic Dome – the skeletal remains of one of the Hiroshima Prefectural buildings that survived the atomic bombing. Interestingly, the memorial plaque doesn’t mention anywhere that the bombing was carried out by the Americans – and the overall tone of the memorial isn’t accusatory at all, but more like a quiet reflection on the horrors of war and the importance of peace.

At the hotel, we arrived just in time for happy hour and had some rather mediocre wine that made us a bit dizzy – but then we went to dinner and had delicious katsu to make up for it.

Posted in Asia, English, Japan, Tokyo

Japan – Day 4

Posted on by travellingleila

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26 May 2025

In the morning, we went to have breakfast at a French bakery not far from the hotel. Since we had the Ghibli Museum on the agenda for today, we decided not to rush and instead went for a walk through Harajuku – a trendy, youthful district full of interesting and extravagant shops with alternative fashion.

Tokyo really is a huge city – the distances are vast, and each district has its own distinct vibe, completely different from the others.

Another observation – the Japanese really do love queuing. Even though, as I mentioned before, there are countless eateries, some are clearly more popular than others, and there are always queues outside them. We often see queues at shops too – and sometimes, it’s not even clear what people are queuing up for.

We walked across the entire district to the subway station, and from there we headed to the Kichijoji area, where the Ghibli Museum is located. Kichijoji also has a totally different feel, and it also has narrow streets with izakayas, but we didn’t find anything interesting here: since it was around midday, most of them were shut behind roller shutters (I’m guessing, it’s more lively in the evening).

So, in search of lunch, we somehow ended up in the Japanese equivalent of what we’d call a “day-day kafesi” (literally – “café for uncles”), indeed quite packed with local “uncles”, and everything was in Japanese. Luckily, the ordering was done via an interactive tablet – you just tap on pictures and help yourself out with Google Lens. They served ramen, noodles, yakitori with rice, and some very tasty gyoza. It was a delicious and incredibly cheap meal – 1800 yen for two (that’s 9 pounds, mind you!).

After lunch, we still had time before the museum and headed to the nearby Inokashira Park – a lovely park with a large lake in the middle.

As for the museum itself – as you can probably guess, it’s dedicated to the Ghibli anime studio. Tickets need to be bought in advance – for foreign tourists, they’re released once a month for the following month and sell out within just a couple of hours. I’m not a Ghibli fan (to be honest, I’ve never even seen a single film), but I joined Rena – and didn’t regret it one bit.

You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, which makes sense – otherwise, people would be crowding every exhibit forever. The exhibits – both temporary and permanent – were really interesting. The idea is to use Studio Ghibli’s well-known anime films as an example to show the entire animation process – from early sketches and drawings to the final product.

There are piles of scrapbooks and art books filled with images of everything imaginable – tools, landscapes, cityscapes, people in motion, animals, plants – all used to create the most realistic animations possible. You really get a sense of how colossal the amount of work is.

It was also fascinating to see how animation frames are brought to life – with techniques like layering images or using fast-spinning three-dimensional figures in different poses (the rotation itself is too fast to see, so it looks like the figures are actually moving, though they’re just different models ending up in the same position). Overall, it was all really, really interesting.

They also showed a short animation – “The Day I Bought a Star” – about a boy who buys something like a precious gem from a mole and a frog, then plants it and grows a planet. Unfortunately, the film was in Japanese with no subtitles, so we didn’t quite understand what was going on. Actually, the museum doesn’t bother much with translations in other parts either – apparently, they feel they have enough visitors already, and if you don’t understand Japanese, that’s your own problem.

The museum shop was a bit of a disappointment – we expected more, given how great the museum was, but it really didn’t impress us.

After the museum, we headed to the other side of Tokyo – to the Asakusa district – to visit Sensoji Temple. It’s Buddhist and is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. The approach to the temple is via Nakamise-dori, a traditional-style shopping street that mostly sells souvenirs. Since it was almost evening already, very few of the shops were still open – which was actually a good thing, because there were no crowds. The temple itself was beautiful.

We had dinner in the same area, at a yakiniku-style restaurant – where you grill meat and other food yourself at the table. The place offered all-you-can-eat for 100 minutes. Naturally, we went for the marbled Wagyu beef – they had a variety of cuts. Unfortunately, we only managed two rounds of meat per person – a shame, because the beef was absolutely delicious!

Posted in Asia, English, Japan, Kawaguchiko

Japan – Day 3

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25 May 2025

Today we got up early, at 8 o’clock (although jet lag is still noticeable), and went for breakfast at a cool café nearby, in the park. They serve delicious Japanese milk bread for breakfast everywhere – it looks like an airy bun, and at first glance I thought I wouldn’t like it, but it’s actually really tasty.

Then we picked up my umbrella I’d forgotten at another café yesterday, and after that, we headed out for our trip to Lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji!

I have to say, this trip had a whole backstory that deserves to be told separately. The thing is, this time of year doesn’t offer great chances of seeing Mount Fuji: the best visibility is during the winter months, and even then, the odds are only about 60–70%, while May isn’t ideal at all. Because of the clouds and fog, Fuji might not be visible at all – or only be partly visible. So planning a trip there far in advance makes absolutely no sense. It’s better to decide last minute, using a special website that gives 5-day weather and visibility forecasts for the mountain from both the north and south.

A couple of days before travelling to Japan, I checked the site, but the forecasts for our stay in Tokyo looked pretty discouraging. On the evening of our first day, we checked again – and saw that for today’s afternoon, visibility was rated 6 out of 10. We decided to take a risk and bought bus tickets anyway. And today – it was showing 10 out of 10!

The bus picked us up right from our hotel and took us to Kawaguchiko Station in two hours. And right away, we saw the majestic mountain – fully visible! It really is incredibly impressive.

First things first – we decided to get lunch. We wanted to try the local specialty noodles (udon), but the line outside the restaurant didn’t look inspiring, so we went to another place that only serves one dish: beef katsu cutlet.

After lunch, we went for a walk along the perimeter of Lake Kawaguchiko – one of the “Five Fuji Lakes” – toward an observation deck. The lake itself didn’t seem all that remarkable, at least not this part of it – we didn’t even feel like doing a boat tour, which we’d originally planned.

There was a funny moment when it seemed like the mountain had completely disappeared, and we were confused – how could it vanish in just five minutes? But it turned out we were just looking in the wrong direction, and it was hidden behind a hill, so soon enough, it reappeared – still in full view.

Next on our list was the Chureito Pagoda with its famous “postcard” view of Mount Fuji. From the observation deck where we’d already taken a hundred million photos, we decided to walk there instead of heading back to the station to take a train – we figured an hour and twenty minutes on foot sounded doable.

Spoiler alert: this turned out not to be our brightest idea, because 2.5 kilometers of the walk (at least half an hour) went straight through a car tunnel carved through a mountain – something Google Maps didn’t warn us about. Initially we didn’t even realise how long it was. We reached the mountain, saw the tunnel, and even joked that a clever person wouldn’t climb a mountain but would rather dig a tunnel through it. But dragging ourselves through that dark, polluted tunnel wasn’t the most pleasant part of the trip. We didn’t see a single other pedestrian – just a couple of puzzled cyclists passed us along the narrow walkway.

After the tunnel, though, the walk was much nicer – through a quiet rural area, with cute houses and irises blooming in small gardens. It must be lovely to live there, with the country’s most important symbol as your everyday backdrop.

Of course, to reach the pagoda itself we had to climb uphill – wouldn’t expect anything else. By then it was about 5 pm, so there weren’t many people around. Most tourist groups probably visit in the morning, because I recall reading reviews saying the pagoda isn’t worth it because of the crowds, with people packed so tightly it’s hard to take a single photo. As for us, we spent quite a while on the viewing platform, admiring the view of the pagoda and Fuji, and took yet another hundred million photos. In total, I must have photographed at least a hundred different views of Mount Fuji – just like Hokusai, only with much less effort!

On the way back, we ran into a bit of an issue. We hadn’t realised that bus tickets needed to be booked in advance. In one sense, it wasn’t a bad thing – we didn’t know exactly how much time we’d need to explore. But when we got to the bus stop, all three buses that came only picked up passengers who already had tickets. Since they were full, they refused to take us. When we checked the bus company’s website, we saw that all the remaining buses for the day were also sold out.

We had to walk to Shimoyoshida Station – at least that was still an option!

From there, we had to transfer trains and then take the subway. The return trip took over three hours, probably to balance out how easy and direct the ride there had been (right from the hotel!). So we ended up having a rather sad dinner – a sandwich and an onigiri (a rice triangle with filling, wrapped in dried seaweed) that we grabbed at the station and basically inhaled on the train in minutes, like cormorants (since it’s considered rude to eat or drink on Japanese public transport, at least we didn’t embarrass ourselves for too long!).

All in all, despite the hiccups, it was a wonderful trip – and Fuji-san was kind to us. We were so lucky to see her in all her glory!

Posted in Asia, English, Japan, Tokyo

Japan – Day 2

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24 May 2025

Observations after our second day in Tokyo – first of all, Japan is, above all, for the Japanese. For example, you won’t see souvenir shops with magnets and other touristy junk popping up everywhere – you can find them, of course, but you pretty much have to deliberately look for them.

Secondly, cash still plays a major role here – which is surprising for such a developed, high-tech country. Cards are accepted in many places, but definitely not everywhere. For example, the balance on the transport IC card (which, by the way, is incredibly convenient – you can use it for transport all over Japan, and also to pay in convenience stores like FamilyMart and 7-Eleven, at vending machines, and even to lock up your suitcase in hotel storage rooms or in Shinkansen luggage lockers) can only be topped up with cash. You can load it from a card only when you first buy it at the airport.

That said, the country doesn’t even feel especially high-tech. Websites and online payment systems are often clunky, and the city infrastructure doesn’t give off a futuristic vibe that’s miles ahead of, say, old Europe – like was the case in e.g. Singapore. For instance, there aren’t always escalators at the entrances and exits of the subway, which would be unthinkable in Singapore. It feels like Japan’s rapid development sort of paused at some point – maybe in the ’90s. The architecture doesn’t resemble the likes of Singapore or Hong Kong either. There are lots of plain, boxy concrete apartment buildings. But it also doesn’t feel densely built-up like Hong Kong, despite what we’d heard about Japanese homes being so compact they fit a bed, a toilet, and a kitchen into literally a single square meter – often with retractable furniture. At least from the outside, it doesn’t look like space is that tight.

People, of course, are very polite. If the British are known for loving to queue, then the Japanese seem like they were born for it.

We also noticed that various jobs that seem “inefficient” by our standards – like waving a flag to direct traffic that’s already controlled by traffic lights – are often done by elderly men. Even in retirement age, people don’t sit at home on the couch; they still prefer to work, even if it’s not clear what exactly they’re contributing.

Now, about today itself. In the morning, we had breakfast at a café near the hotel and then headed to Meiji Shrine. It’s a large area with gardens and the shrine complex itself – the biggest Shinto shrine in Tokyo from the early 20th century. It was interesting, though there wasn’t that much to linger over. We were lucky to see a traditional Japanese wedding procession, and all the tourists immediately whipped out their cameras to record it.

From there, we went to the Nezu area, where we strolled through narrow streets and visited another shrine – called Nezu Shrine. It was much quieter there, clearly not a major tourist spot, but we actually found it more charming and interesting.

Before visiting the shrine, we had sushi nearby. I ordered an assorted nigiri set – I could recognise salmon, tuna, and grilled eel, and there were a few other types of fish I couldn’t identify. It was incredibly tasty – sushi like this just doesn’t exist outside Japan. And yes, it’s true what people say: sushi here is nothing like what we get back home. Here it’s mostly nigiri, sashimi, and occasionally very simple maki rolls. Just the basics: rice, fish, nori. No mayo, avocado, cream cheese – or God forbid, Caesar rolls.

Next, we headed to the Ginza district and walked around. Each Tokyo neighbourhood feels different from the the other – Ginza feels more upscale and also more European in a way. In places, it almost feels like walking around the Galeries Lafayette area in Paris.

In Ginza, we visited the Art Aquarium Museum, which has lots of different aquarium installations with live fish lit up in creative ways. Yes, it was cool and interesting, but there was also something a bit unsettling about it – some sense of neglect or even cruelty. Some tanks were tiny glass bowls, others looked like solitary confinement cells with two or three fish crammed inside, clearly with no room to move. It’s unclear whether they’re kept there permanently, and if not, how the whole system works – how they’re fed, where they’re moved, etc. The fish themselves were fascinating – some with bulging eyes, others round-bellied and odd-looking. But after a while, the installations started to feel a bit repetitive.

We had dinner in a diner in the same building – set meals with meat, fish, and various small side dishes. I had one with wagyu beef.

We wanted to hang around Ginza a bit longer, but it started raining so we headed back to the hotel.