Flutes, drums and small bronze gongs play from the wooden floats of the Gion Matsuri each July, a tinkling tune locals call konchikichin. On New Year's Eve the sound turns deep, as seventeen monks swing a log into the giant bell of Chion-in and shout to keep count. Between those two notes, tea shops welcome customers with a soft okoshiyasu.
The Kamo River runs past downtown, and in summer restaurants build wooden dining terraces over its banks. Ringed by mountains on three sides, the basin has hot, humid summers and cold winters with the odd snowfall. A Local Friend can turn your long list of temples into a day that makes sense, one neighborhood at a time.
