My trip to Kyoto was one of my best experiences i have ever had. From visiting Nijō Castle, Kinkaku-ji, and strolling through the streets of Gion my experience there was like no other. I think one of the best things i can recall from my summer trip is doing all these things and going back to my hotel after being out in the hot humid summer day for some cold beers and a nice bath in my own private Onsen. On the contrary my winter trip was more memorable as I was able to meet and attend a tea ceremony with a Maiko. Kyoto is like no other place on this earth on one side you have the small old Edo period like buildings and small alleys and on the other hand you have more modern streets and locations like Pontocho where you can spend all night drinking and enjoying yourself. Even though I am not fluent in the japanese language or even close to understanding a simple sentence i tried to do the best to understand and pick up a couple phrases that where more common, also google translate helped a lot specially with the camera feature. I think visiting Kyoto over the summer really gave me a good idea on how long a Kyoto trip should last in order to see everything you want to see, and specially staying at the heart of Kyoto compared to staying at a place in Gion where i would walk a street and see a ton of Geisha going to their jobs. Staying in Kyoto you need to remember to be respectful and just enjoy being there. Kyoto not only offers a great historic experience with its old style buildings and temples but also has a great night life and modern restaurants with amazing foods and experiences, some of the best times i had where spent visiting small shops and bars. You need to remember that Kyoto is one of the most visited cities in Japan so in order to get a good place to eat you need to reserve a seat either by calling and doing your best or by using sites such as tabelog. Kyoto was one of the best places i have visited in my life and i have had some of my greatest memories there I hope if you are lucky enough to go that you enjoy it as much as i did. Arigato Gozaimasu.