Nijo Castle
Our second day in Kyoto, we headed to Nijo Castle . While Himeji Castle is known for its impressive grounds and the exterior of the castle, Nijo is known for its interior mural paintings. We arrived at the same time as numerous school children, which were really fun to see. The outside of the castle is rather spectacular and the gates are quite elaborate. The gates were carved and lacquered. The colors were just beautiful. This is another building where you will need to take off your shoes. I do wish we had been able to time our visit to miss the batches of visitors; that being said, I am not exactly sure when that would be. Parts of the castle were under renovation and a number of the murals are actual replications; of course, we could not tell the difference. Unfortunately, we could not take photos of the murals in the castle. One of their most famous mural is of tigers -- before the painter had ever seen a tiger. ...