Today was a long day by design; 9 ½ hours.

We left early to head to Kyoto. Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is a city on the island of Honshu. It's famous for its numerous classical Buddhist temples, as well as gardens, imperial palaces, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses.

We had three destinations in store: the Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist Temple, the Nijō Castle, and Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion). The Kiyomizu-dera Temple was established over 1250 years ago. It’s halfway up Mt. Otowa, one of the peaks in Kyoto's Higashiyama mountain range. Each spot was better and better.

The Kiyomizu-dera Temple was incredible due to it’s age, being sandwiched up a mountain side, and the construction. The view from there back down to Kyoto was magnificent.

After about an hour and a half at the temple we headed for lunch (it’s vacation and we can’t miss a meal). It was advertised as a Western Lunch and I was expecting a hamburger. It was anything but. Lunch was a four-course formal meal consisting of a simple salad (what appears to be carrots in the photo is high-grade salmon), grilled white fish, grilled chicken thigh, and some sweet desserts. The only thing “western” about it was the untensils: forks, knives and spoons.

From there we headed to the Nijō Castle. The castle has an interesting history intertwined with the most power Shogun. It was constructed in 1607, occupied about 68 acres, and is a UNESCO site. After serving the Shogun’s family for centuries, in1867 the family turned the property over to the Imperial Court and was declared a detached palace.

Walking through the structures you can get a sense of the formality, and severity, of life in the Shogun era. Meeting rooms were large, formal and laid out to a specific plan designed to emphasize the power of the Shogun.

From there we headed to one of the most recognizable sites: Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion). The original Golden Pavilion is believed to have been constructed in 1399. Gold was an important addition to the pavilion because of its underlying meaning. The gold employed was intended to mitigate and purify any pollution or negative thoughts and feelings towards death.

The pavilion was burned down in 1959 by a novice monk. It was reconstructed using gold leaf on the exterior. Visitors are not allowed close to the structure, but it’s hard to imagine that the view could have been any better up close.

We made it back to Kobe in time to join a small reception for select guests. We had a cocktail and met with the chief officers. From there we were invited to the bridge to meet with the captain. He has been the captain on several other cruises we’ve been on and is a very congenial host. We spent about 40 minutes with him as he explained/demonstrated the technology used to manage the ship. We went out an exterior “wing” where they guide the ship into the berth.

After all that, it was time for dinner and lights out.