It was our final morning in Hiroshima, I gazed out of the hotel window one last time at this city which we'd both thoroughly enjoyed visiting. It was time to move on though, our next stop was Kyoto.
We went in search of some breakfast but nowhere seemed to offer a decent vegetarian option for my wife. Just as we were close to admitting defeat and going to Family Mart we spotted this place, they were offering a set breakfast for just ¥540 (about £3.85)
The breakfast included a hot drink that came with the dinkiest milk jug we'd ever seen!
It was an interesting mix combing elements of a full English breakfast with a salad. It tasted good though, I swapped my wife's sausage for my pineapple, a swap we were both happy with.
Afterwards we visited a big department store with a huge model train set. I'd seen many department stores with one of these, model trains seem to be big business here.
The department store had a very 80's feel to it, this place reminded me of Mister Byrite that used to be on Gentleman's Walk in Norwich.
I'd never seen these before, sponge rollers that cleaned the escalator rail.
As we got closer to the train station we passed a vending machine selling giant insects in liquid, I'm still confused!
The thick toast we'd been served for breakfast was made using this loaf of bread, so thick it contained just 5 slices.
For the train journey we bought a selection of snacks to keep us occupied. We bought most of them from Daiso for ¥100 each (about 70P)
Strong Zero is a fruit punch available in different flavours with a fairly high alcohol content, I really liked it and you could certainly feel the effects of the alcohol after just one can.
I'd already tried these earlier in the trip, gotta love a rice cracker.
My wife chose the ice cream flavoured corn snacks but decided she didn't really like them. I loved it though, a bit like ice cream flavoured Wotsits.
These banana cakes looked great but were a bit too dry for my liking, they had a banana cream inside but I much preferred the bananas wrapped in cake and cream.
These chocolate panda biscuits were excellent, each had a different facial expression.
Milky is a popular brand of milky flavoured sweets in Japan, the iconic character on the packet can be seen everywhere.
I thought this was bubblegum, it was more like blackcurrent chewits though.
We changed trains at Osaka, not somewhere we were visiting on this trip as we'd explored it last time. Osaka is considered to be the food capital of Japan.
From the kiosk on Osaka station we bought a pair of boiled eggs, stunning as always!
Once in Kyoto we went in search of our hotel, it had looked quite near to the train station on the map.
Looks can be deceiving though, it was a good 30 minute walk from the station. Toyoko Inn Kyoto was the most expensive hotel on our trip costing ¥9000 (about £64) per night for a double room with en suite bathroom.
We certainly got more for our money here though, a full size double bed and much more space around it. The duvet was really comfortable and we even had a small table to sit at here.
We didn't watch any TV whilst in Japan but switching it on revealed the wifi code. All the hotels we had stayed in had a fridge, really handy to keep milk in if you want it in your tea or coffee.
The cost of staying here also included breakfast, more on this tomorrow though.
Kyoto is an essential place to visit if you're coming to Japan, it's incredibly beautiful and has many shrines and temples. This was our second time here, we'd only visited briefly last time so was keen to stop off here again.
This area had streets lined with traditional wooden buildings, many were restaurants. We were feeling quite peckish so we glanced at the menus outside looking for somewhere nice to eat.
Many people probably don't notice it but look up high and prepare to be amazed by the wiring in Japan.
Our search for a restaurant ended here, we had to sit in a small waiting room until a table was free so it was clearly a popular place which is always a good sign.
We ordered some ice cold Asahi which arrived as always with some hot flannels.
I couldn't resist trying the special okonomiyaki, my wife ordered some vegetable noodles topped with an egg.
We sat at a long table with griddles running along it, this is where the food is placed when it's ready.
In front of us the chef was busy preparing all the meals.
Whilst waiting for the food to arrive we ordered some plum wine on the rocks. Everytime the waitress appeared we looked up hoping the food she was bringing over would be ours, we were really hungry!
My wife's noodles arrived first, a good sized heap and a nice looking fried egg too.
When my okonomiyaki arrived I had a brief panic over the raw egg yolk, then I remembered that I was sitting in front of a hot griddle so problem solved. This was a really nice okonomiyaki with an impressive selection of meat and fish to be found inside.
On our walk back to the hotel I kept seeing cycle lanes, I hadn't seen these anywhere else in Japan. Although there are signs on many of the pavements in Japan telling people not to cycle on them this was commonly ignored.
As always we made Family Mart our final stop, something was needed to go with a nice cup of tea back at the hotel.
Crunky chocolate was our snack of choice tonight, milk chocolate with lots of almonds and crunchy bits inside, delicious!
We were so close to breaking our previous steps record today!
Click here for Day 13
Kyoto Railway Museum and cycling around the City
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