Kyoto is the cultural jewel of Japan and one of the most sophisticated cities I have ever seen. Everything is beautiful, everything is chic, everything is so aesthetically pleasing it makes you feel like you walked into a Pinterest board. They were and still are eating locally sourced vegetables and displaying them (with dirt still on) in the cutest basket out front with a lantern and maybe a hand painted sign. They were and still are providing the cutest and homemade silk embroidered coin purses. They were and still are giving you anything limited quantity, very special, and absolutely the best most bespoke anything. I felt like everything I saw was the most beautiful picturesque “thing” I had ever seen. I found myself wanting to take pictures of leaves! temples! kimonos! Usually things I hate looking at pictures of. And all those cliche things you have come to associate with Kyoto. I had to slap myself a few times and realize this was the real thing and wow was it special. And certainly not something they put on for tourists. No, you aren’t in Brooklyn, you aren’t in East L.A., you are in Kyoto and this is their way of life.

And on that note, here are my cliche vacation photos of Kyoto.