We then hopped back on the Shinkansen and headed west about an hour to Himeji to check out the Himeji Castle. The castle had everything you'd expect: moat, walls, hilltop view, and numerous gates.
We opted for a to-go lunch of pastries so that we could get back into Kyoto. Both of us ended up loving the various pastries that we ate while on vacation. They were inexpensive and Mmmm Mmmm good. Today's assortment included some roll that had bacon and cheese baked into it, one with red bean paste, one with dried cranberries, and another filled with some kind of custard.
Back in Kyoto we checked out Nijo Castle. We probably should have seen this one before Himeji Castle. Nijo looked quaint (if you can call a castle "quaint") since it lacked the grandeur of Himeji.
The final stop for the day Kiyomizudera, a buddhist temple with a huge wooden deck. To get to the temple you have to walk uphill along this road filled with shops. You tend to forget about the climb since there's plenty of distractions along the way. The temple is at the top of the hill and almost seems to smack you in the face with its bright color that was a sharp contrast to the hillside background.
By the time we finished checking out the temple and walking back down the hill, we were both pretty spent after all the walking we did. We walked around a bit to find a restaurant we could both agree on and settled on one not far from our hotel. (Since neither of us could read the menus, our search involved finding a restaurant with either a translated menu or plastic replicas of their dishes in the window.) Tonight's dinner consisted of miso soup, and a rice bowl topped with fish. Steve's fish appeared to be breaded then fried. Mine appeared to be cooked within an omelette. Since the restaurant didn't have much to offer for dessert, we "settled" for crepes again. 
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