KyototoOsaka

We woke up at 8 am and began cleaning and packing. Thankfully most of our clothes were dry from the washing the day before. We polished of the rest of the food in the fridge, put our packs on our backs, and walked to Kiyomizu-Gojō station.

We did a quick transfer from the local line to the express, made it to the outskirts of Osaka, and grabbed a quick lunch at a little shop that seemed to specialize in something like Japanese tapas.

We checked into our next Airbnb, relaxed for a bit and got a message from our previous Airbnb that we left our kids iPhone in Kyoto.

We relaxed until the Airbnb people good back to us and pickles up breakfast and staples from the local mini mart.

When we heard back, we split the party and Charlie and I headed to the spot back in Kyoto where they left our phone for us. 1.5 hours each way later and we were back in Osaka, ready for the evening.

**** Eli here: while Morgan and Charlie were gone, Malcolm, Henry and I explored Osaka a little bit. We found ourselves walking down the first sketchy alley that I've seen, but it opened right up into the longest covered shopping "arcade" in Japan.

The Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street in Osaka it's 1.6 miles and has 600 to 800 local shops and eateries. Henry in particular was on a mission to finally find himself a folding fan. (Finally got to check that off the list!)

He also wanted a yukata (a casual/summer kimono) because he loved the ones provided at the onsen as loungewear so much. The brightly colored kid's sizes were sadly too small, but we went into a shop which fully wrapped him up in a men's version complete with belt which he loved of course, but it was way too expensive for a 9 year old who will outgrow it very quickly. They tried to give us two separate discounts and some American flag origami, but we passed. A few shops later, we found one for less than a 1/4 of the price and after thinking about it for a bit, scooped it up on our way back. It's not bright, but it has gold thread in it and Henry is happy about it!

Malcolm was a great brother who called out every fan/yukata shop so Henry could check. He was rewarded with soft serve and later, a churro.

It was hot and crowded, but still totally worth checking out. There were tons of street food and people getting ready for the big parade tomorrow chanting and hoisting mini shrines in the air.

We headed home to meet up with Morgan and Charlie and get some dinner!***

We walked down to get Indian food by the waterfront, then headed home.

Tomorrow should be an easy day, and hopefully we'll catch the parade, the street food, and the fireworks of the Osaka summer festival.