On our final full day of the official culinary tour, the entire delegation boarded our charted buses and headed to Kyoto for some more food and shopping. It was about a 45
minute ride.Our first stop was the Toji Temple Market. The temple seems like an odd location for Kyoto's largest outdoor market, doesn't it? If I recall correctly,
Teresa said there were over 1500 vendors. Here, we found a colorful array of food stalls, Japanese tableware, kimonos, plants, antiques, and everything in between. Ann and I found a pair of his and her used kimonos that we purchased for my youngest sister, Hang. She and her boyfriend Chris will be wearing them to a costume party for Halloween. Look at Pam trying on a purple kimono. Isn't she beautiful?
After spending 2 hours at the Toji Temple market, the delegation had bento boxes for lunch at another temple that was about 10 minutes away.
Our final stop in Kyoto was the Nishiki Street Market, which is where exquisite culinary ingredients and tools can be purchased. Do you believe that each of these mu
shroom baskets cost about $200-$300 (US)? Outrageous!Although the trip to Kyoto was only about 45 minutes, the trip home took over 2 hours due to the rush hour traffic. We got back to the Sheraton Miyako Hotel at about 6 pm, which gave us roughly half an hour to get ready for the final farewell dinner reception.
