Chion-in Temple {Japan}

Happy Monday Y'all! Ugh… back to the weekly grind :) I hope your weekend was good. Saturday I spent the day studying basic math to help prep for the GRE, got caught up on my shows, and studied some more. 

Yesterday, I had my very first blate, and it was pretty great if I do say so myself. I met up and had dinner with Chantal who blogs over at Scattered Seashells. We had a nice dinner and great conversation. I had a blast watching her daughter, Penny, jump around in the booth and try to climb the glass partition between the booths. I think Matt and I need to borrow Penny for the day and make sure we really want to take on this parenting thing. (Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to visit Seoul's Children's Museum.)  It was nice going out to eat with another American and fellow blogger. It was a little surreal because we already knew so much about each other. It was like we were already on level 2 or 3 of friendship because we already knew the basics about each other. Good first blate in my books.

{We forgot to snap a picture, but I'm sure we'll do this the next time we get together.} 

Anyway, today I thought I would go back to Japan and share another amazing place with y'all. 

While we were waiting for our tea ceremony time we decided to continue exploring and Chion-in Temple was right next to the En Tea Shop. 

Chion-in Temple isn't as bright or show stopping as Yasaka Shrine or Fushimi Inari, but it's beautiful in its own right. It's not too big, so it won't take too much time out of your schedule. It's just down the street from the Yasaka Shrine, and possible to see both in one day. {We did, plus a few other places.} 

 {Hint- You can take stairs and go up to the second level of the main gate. We didn't know that until we already went down all the stairs :) } 

The main gate above called Sanmom was built it 1619 and is the largest surviving structure of its kind in Japan. The original temple was built in 1234. 

When I made it up these stairs, I sat there for a while and just took in where we were. It was so peaceful and the top of the steps had a beautiful view of the city. It was interesting because it was breezy day and the temple grounds are filled with trees- and up there it felt like I was back in Georgia. It felt exactly like Georgia does in the early Spring- nice and green, the wind blowing, and beautiful. I don't often think about missing Georgia. I always miss my family, but Georgia not so much. But up at the top in this temple in Japan- I felt homesick for Georgia, and I'm glad I felt a little sense of connection to my home state. 

Chion-in wasn't really on our list of things to do, but I'm glad we went. Like I said, it's not too big and it's perfect for waiting for your tea appointment. 

So what about y'all- have you ever added a place to your travel list and were completely surprised how much you enjoyed it? 

{If you missed any of our previous Japan adventures- click here. Source}