Shokubutsuen

We're enjoying being home in Kyoto and continuing to explore new things in this great city. Yesterday, however, we returned to one of our favorite places--the Kyoto Botanical Garden (Shokubutsuen), which is just a short bus ride (or long walk) from our apartment. The roses and hydrangea are in full bloom, and we enjoyed a little picnic on the "leisure sheet" (tarp) we keep in the stroller. We ended our excursion with a walk home via the Kamo River and the Shimogamo Shrine. We normally would take the bus, but the baby, amazingly, fell asleep in the stroller and we don't wake sleeping babies around here. We've been seeing a lot of pilgrims walking around Kyoto lately, this time across the Kamo toward the Shimogama Shrine (we think). The day before, we saw one checking out the bikes at the shop across from our apartment--maybe considering more efficient transportation to holy places.