A word to the wise.

Adidas low top canvas shoes are NOT meant to be climbed mountains in. My feet hurt really badly. I woke up this morning, left about 5 minutes after everyone else (about 8), and took the train once again to Kyoto. Really long walk number 1: Kyoto station to Nijo castle. About 3 kilometers which is like 2 miles. Spent a long time walking throught the cool castle, and almost finished up memory card. Really long walk number 2: Nijo castle to Heian Shrine. about the same. In the middle of this walk through the middle of the city, I saw a bike messenger. He rolled up on his really sweet track bike, leaned his bike up against a bush, and walked into the building. no lock. I waited to see what would happen. I couple minutes later, he came back with his package, and as he was mounting his bike, I asked him why he didnt use a lock. "Oh, we dont really need them" Crazy! I want that kind of safety. If you leave your bike unlocked in Portland for like 5 minutes it will be long gone. Then I kept walking to the Shrine. On the way, I found a camera store, got the CDs made, and ate lunch. I spent a long time walking through the Shrine, which was fun, and took a bunch of pictures. Long walk number 3: Heian Shrine to Ginkakuji, via the philosophers walk. A little less than the other ones, but with some hills. Walked alond most of the fairly famous (though not especially pretty) philosophers walk, went to a couple temples along the way, and took some more pictures. Went to Ginkakuji, which is sometimes called the Silver pavillion by people who cant pronounce Japanese. And boy, is it ever not silver! It was no color. Well, old wood. Really long walk number 4: Ginkakuji to the top of the Kyoto Daimoji mountain. I dont really know how far this is, but is really really steep, and rough, and not meant to be done in tennis shoes. It is probably about 150 to 200 meters up. I got to the daimonji (big character, as in a kana or kanji) and nearly shat myself. The view was fucking unbelieveable. You could see an incredible long way, and it looks over a greater portion of the city. I took shit loads of photos. then I climbed to the very top of that mountain, where there was another very beautiful view, this time looking a little more to the south, took a bunch more pictures, and rested a little while my feet cried. Then I looked at my watch and saw that I was later than I wanted to be. Really long walk number 5: The top of the Kyoto Daimoji mountain to Ginkakuji. If tennis shoes arent meant to go up the mountain, then they sure as hell arent meant to be used running at high speeds down the mountain! At the bottom, my feet were super crying and hurt like hell. I hoped a bus to the station, and fell asleep on the way. Got to the station, got on a train, and went home.
fun day.

Peter

ps. post 100, if that means anything, and Boonen is losing. balls.