Kyoto: Arrival, lunch and market
Journey to Kyoto
We departed Kanazawa and traveled by Tokaido Shinkansen to Tsuruga (敦賀市) 🗾 and transferred to the Thunderbird (サンダーバード) limited express to Kyōto Station (京都駅) 🗾.
From there, we took the subway to Shijō Station (四条駅) 🗾 and walked about four blocks to the Hotel Intergate Kyoto Shijo Shinmachi (ホテルインターゲート京都 四条新町) 🗾. It was hot and humid, but manageable.
The hotel’s operations are very similar to those of the Hotel Intergate Kanazawa (ホテルインターゲート金沢), but there were slight differences. The rooms are modern and relatively spacious. As implied, the location was close to a subway station and a major shopping and restaurant street. The streets near the hotel also have quite a few restaurants and, of course, convenience stores.
We took a short break in the hotel before heading out.
Gyoza lunch
We had decided to visit Nishiki Market, but stopped for lunch about two blocks away at Tiger Gyoza Kaikan Shijo Karasuma (タイガー餃子会舘 四条烏丸店) 🗾 before we got there. We kept it simple with some Gyoza, chicken, and beers.
Nishiki Market and more lunch
From lunch, we walked to the nearby Nishiki Market (錦市場) 🗾, another two blocks away (four blocks from the hotel), to explore and eat more. Known as “Kyoto’s Kitchen,” it has many restaurants and retail shops. We walked the whole market before deciding what to eat. We settled on a selection of croquettes (コロッケ or Korokke) at Hanayori Kiyoe (錦市場 花よりキヨエ) 🗾. This place is named after an olive farm in Australia, where Kiyoe is the highest-quality olive oil made from ripe olives harvested there. Here, the food is fried in that olive oil. Unusual, but everything tasted good!
We also tried Takoyaki (round ball of savory dough with octopus) at Tako to Highball (タコハイ京都錦市場店) 🗾, and then walked back to the hotel to gather our things before attending a tea ceremony.