kyoto

walking around kyoto, i got assaulted with olfactory nostalgia -- nothing gets you in the throat quite like the smell of something familiar. i think before i would try to explain how much i liked kyoto in terms of objective facts; the parks, the mountains and nature, the shrines and temples, the small restaurants, etc. but now i think none of these things are really important.

there are times when you see a page of a magazine or brochure, and from that one image your mind imagines an entire limpid and perfect world. kyoto is that world for me, come to life. you can walk through it, it smells great, the imperial palace looks great, the people are nice, the old hunchback fruit seller is still there plying his trade.