Kyoto Aquarium
For our last proper day in Kyoto (Wednesday), we decided to spend some time at the aquarium before we caught up with some friends in the afternoon. It was only a shortish bus ride from where we were staying, but when we arrived we were a little concerned by a notice that it was field trip season – not sure why, as it wasn't busy at all.
The giant salamanders were surprisingly cute.
The seals were also (unsurprisingly) cute.
This fur seal spent much of the time we were there lying in the water just spinning in place. It was adorable.
There were also very adorable penguins – we could watch them swimming underwater on one floor, or go up a floor to see the top of their enclosure.
But probably the most fun was getting to see a dolphin display not long after we arrived.
Dolphin zoomies – Mia would be proud.
Having a little chat on the sidelines.
Yay jumps!
And more jumps!
Despite how fun the dolphins were, perhaps the cutest thing there were the garden eels! Once these guys mature they pretty much never leave their little burrows completely (they do come in and out a fair way, but not ALL the way).
There were a bunch of other interesting exhibits, and a large two-storey central tank with a whole mix of species – very relaxing just to sit and chill, watching the world swim by.
Razor fish – these guys were pretty cute too – they only seem to swim at this almost-vertical angle.
Perhaps the most surprising area in the aquarium was the large area (and research facility) dedicated to jellyfish. Apparently jellyfish are a big issue in Japan as they pretty much prevent ocean swimming through most of summer.
Adorable little cannonball jellyfish.
After the aquarium, we had hoped to head to a highly rated nearby bakery for a quick lunch. But when we got there, there were only a couple of lonely looking pastries still sitting there, so we moved on to other options. We ended up at a great little lunch spot near Kyoto Station. After ordering our set meals on the kiosk (great for non-Japanese speakers), we gobbled down our lunch and raced off to catch the train to visit some of our friends.
We had a lovely catch up with Yoshiki and Judy, who then had us over for a very non-Japanese dinner of delicious lasagne – the boys were very happy (it's one of their favourites). Judy is originally from Washington State (and knows some of my relatives from there), but has been in Japan for 40 years.
