We didn’t see as much of Kyoto as we might have liked, but there were still a few things that surprised us about the city:

1. In many of the Kyoto subway stations, the subway worker – dressed like the conductor from the Shining Time Station show we watched as children – often says ‘Thank you’ to each customer as (s)he leaves. I have to believe that this gets tiring over the course of a day, but they say it each time someone puts their ticket through the terminal.
2. Many restaurants offered restaurant ordering on iPads at the table – more so than in Osaka. This might be because we stayed in a more residential neighborhood here, with more local chain restaurants. 
3. We also thought that the food in Osaka was generally better – though, again, this could have been largely impacted by our suburban location.
4. My dad had suggested that Kyoto is the spiritual capital of Japan, but it’s hard to overstate how true this is. There are temples and shrines everywhere! 
5. It felt like the touristy parts of Kyoto were actually more condensed into one area than they were in Osaka.
6. There are also fewer subway lines in Kyoto: two primary ones criss-cross the city.
7. There really were a lot of foods flavored with matcha, a green tea powder that’s surprisingly bitter, given how often it’s used in desserts.