Imperial Palace, Kyoto. Yesterday, we got up and visited the Imperial Palace. I can safely say it’s been my least favorite destination of the trip, mostly because of the environment. The only way to view the palace is with a large tour, and I’m really not a tour kind of girl. I barely like traveling with nine other people; being shepherded around with fifty other tourists is definitely not my thing. I don’t like being told when to look at what. Give me a guide book with the information, and point me in the right direction. I like to wander and explore and contemplate. And photograph. The gates of the palace are beautiful. They really are. Dark wood with ornate gold accents… Every gate in the palace is like that. They’re all beautiful. But I was hard pressed to get a good, close shot of any of them. I was hard pressed to get good, close shots of ANYTHING.

Imperial Palace, Kyoto.

Yesterday, we got up and visited the Imperial Palace. I can safely say it’s been my least favorite destination of the trip, mostly because of the environment. The only way to view the palace is with a large tour, and I’m really not a tour kind of girl. I barely like traveling with nine other people; being shepherded around with fifty other tourists is definitely not my thing. I don’t like being told when to look at what. Give me a guide book with the information, and point me in the right direction. I like to wander and explore and contemplate.

And photograph. The gates of the palace are beautiful. They really are. Dark wood with ornate gold accents… Every gate in the palace is like that. They’re all beautiful. But I was hard pressed to get a good, close shot of any of them. I was hard pressed to get good, close shots of ANYTHING.