...I didn't want to leave you with the impression that our long trip ended with Bibi crying in her beer in Kyoto..on the contrary...
...we woke every morning laughing and ready to take on the world...
We’re staying in Gion, the historical part of Kyoto...
...here the stream and bridge to our ryokan, (inn)
a side street just down the road....
... the world of maikos and geikos, tea houses and cherry blossoms. This world, which I had thought extinct, is still very much alive, 
and on a walk in the early evening geikos can still be seen,
albeit surrounded by the clicking of countless cameras, as they are regarded almost as movie stars.
On a night walking tour through this world we learned something of its signs and symbols.
Here the names of the maikos (geishas in training) who live in this dormitory...there are 200 geikos (Kyoto geishas) and 95 maikos currently in training.
On a different evening we had a bit of an introduction to some of the traditional art forms:
tea ceremony
flower arranging....now, I would already have difficulties on my knees like that, never mjnd getting the flowers to lean at a 45 degree angle....
...and the traditional dance of a maiko....
But to me more fascinating than the traditions of yesteryear are the traditions of today: Japan is exceedingly clean…every morning shopkeepers in old Gion hose down their sidewalks; in our ryokan the entrance was hosed down 2 and 3 times a day. On Sunday we saw groups of people armed with bags and pincers, preceded by a flag-bearer, scouring the streets for stay bits of garbage. Most bags were empty.
Service is still written with a capital “S”…cab drivers in uniform with white gloves open the car door (when it is not opened magically by unseen hands electronically).
Toilets…even in small restaurants…have heated seats, flushing noises, bidets…
you need a course in how to operate the console...
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