On our last day in Kyoto, Murray and I lobbied for a visit to the Kyoto Railway Museum. Margaret and Kathie reluctantly agreed. However, when we arrived at the location, we discovered that Umekoji Park was right next door, and since that park featured gardens and wild flower exhibits, the girls decided to head in that direction instead. Serendipity! So, you will have to check out Kathie's Facebook site for information about what they saw. We blokes thoroughly enjoyed what follows here.
I've been to many railway museums, including what I have always considered to be the best in Sacramento, CA. However, this one in Kyoto was sensational, and so I may now have to remember "best" in terms of which country I'm referring to.
There were numerous engines and cars on display, including older versions of some of the Shinkansen bullet train engines. The Shinkansen trains we rode the next day on the way back to Tokyo for flights home were D700 versions. I think the one pictured here is a D600.
There were also lots of steam engines to examine, including this 4-6-4 engine.
There were historically important engines and cars, and all were very nicely restored and displayed. We couldn't read much of the display information, since the majority of the wording on them was Japanese, but there was usually a brief English description or name.
One of the things I especially enjoyed was the inclusion of detailed components, emphasizing engineering changes over time, and explaining operation.
The museum was a real family/kid magnet. A real crowd of people was there, and lots of little ones were around to enjoy the exhibits. The museum has many hands-on exhibits for kids that let them operate simulators, model trains, control components and signaling systems, and learn how to participate in track maintenance operations. I loved watching these little ones working on a track section. They got to wear actual safety gear to enhance the experience.
Outside was an operating steam engine. You could take a short ride, which we elected not to do given time constraints.
Nearby was one of the largest roundhouses and turntables I've seen. Many steam engines were housed there as well.
With several levels of display and the ability to look down at part of the engine collection, the museum was perfect for our interests.
After rendezvousing with the girls, we traveled by bus to the northern part of Kyoto to visit the Kinkaku-ji Temple. Before we did that, though, we found a wonderful little restaurant that was serving various kinds of "toast" and good things to drink. So, for lunch, I ordered their "pizza toast" and found it superb. They sliced fresh, soft bread and toasted it lightly, then covered it with pizza sauce, ham, cheese, onion, and thin cucumber slices. After that, the toasted it again to melt everything together. So good! The owners/operators were charming, and the establishment was so cozy with its dark wood dining bar, backbar, tables, and other woodwork.
Kinkaku-ji Temple is famous for its gold leaf covering. A Zen Buddhist temple, the original dates to the 1300s. Like other temples we saw, this one had burned to the ground at some time but had been rebuilt. It is one of the most popular sites in Japan and is quite picturesque as it is surrounded by water and lovely landscaping. Japanese iris were in full bloom all around the lake.
In the evening, we found another small cafe featuring skewers of different kinds of meats and vegetables. It turned out to be really fun, partly because of the lively group of four guys at the adjacent table. They were loud, laughing, and may have been commenting about we westerners, but we eventually interacted with them quite a bit, using the owner's wife as an interpreter (her English was quite good; they spoke very little English). Turns out they were friends of her husband, who had quit his job with Hewlett-Packard a year ago to start this business. They were honoring him by celebrating at his establishment.
After I took the above shot, one of them grabbed my phone and took this shot. His framing was a little off, or else I was only half there (we had indulged in quite a few beers and wine by then). We ended the evening with glasses of excellent plum wine on ice before returning to our lodging for one last night.
No comments:
Post a Comment