Monday, April 3, 2017
Tokyo to Nikko

Got up early and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  We couldn't linger there long because we had to be packed and ready to leave the hotel on the bus at 9:00.  Today we headed to Nikko which was about a two hour bus ride.  When we arrived we had lunch at a popular restaurant.  David had grilled toast and one piece of the toast had a couple pieces of small yellow cheese cooked into it. The other pieces of toast were plain and he just spread them with a choice of really good butter, peanut butter, or raspberry jam.  I had a club sandwich. Both were very good!

After lunch we visited a UNESCO World Heritage site Tosho-gu (Japan's most ornate shrine complex), dedicated to the Edo Period's first shogun, Tokugawa leyasu.  He and his descendants ruled Japan for over 250 years. Just as a side note, Tokyo was known as Edo before it was called Tokyo. The shrine was originally built in 1617.  It was enlarged and about a dozen buildings added to the complex by 1636.

First you enter the Shinto Gate.  The traditional gate symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.  You should bow as you enter the gate.  

Here are two of the carvings on the storehouses right inside the gate.  They were carved by master carver Hidari Jingorou.  One is the "sleeping cat," and the other is the famous three monkeys -- hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.  

After spending a lot of time exploring the shrine and the surrounding buildings and forest, we checked into our traditional Japanese ryokan.  

The ryokan had an onsen -- a Japanese hot spring -- so we had our first opportunity to soak in it before dinner.  Onsen water is said to have healing powers derived from its mineral content.  Males and females bathe separately and there is a bit of a ritual involved.  You must shower before getting into the onsen and you must be naked.  This onsen had an indoor pool which was huge and an outdoor area with lounge chairs and two small pools. One pool was cool water and the other was the hot spring water.  David and I both bathed and it was very relaxing.  After soaking, most people shower again to wash the minerals off their skin.  Soap, shampoo and conditioner and body lotion were provided to use after your bath.  I'm sorry I could not take any pictures because the setting was lovely.  

We were given yukatas to wear to our group dinner.  I must say they are VERY comfortable!

Here is the first group picture taken on the trip.  There were four couples from the UK -- three of the couples were friends and travel together frequently.  One couple was from India and the other couple was from Australia.  All in all a great group!

The presentation of the dinner was beautiful!  The white square box contained the beef that I cooked in the hot pot shown on the upper left corner.

We had a great evening and when we returned to our rooms our beds were made up for us. They were surprising comfortable and we had a very good night's sleep.

We truly enjoyed our stay at the ryokan and wish we could have spent more time there but we had to move on the next day.

Sunday, April 2, 2017
Tokyo

We had a leisurely morning and a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel.  All of our breakfasts are included.  We did not have to meet the other tour people until 11:00 which was great.  We were to meet at the river to take a waterbus so on the way we visited Tokyo's oldest temple, Senso-ji.  Then we strolled through a garden to see the beginning of the cherry blossoms blooming.

The river front was packed with people but we found our group and boarded the waterbus for a ride down the Sumida River. It was very crowded so we didn't have good views, but I did notice this sign on the boat and it pleased me.  "May peace prevail on earth."  

We only traveled on the waterbus a few stops and we got off and walked through Hama-rikyu gardens.  They were once the private playgrounds of Japan's old shoguns.  Our tour leader walked us to meet our bus and a local guide to visit another temple.  On the way to meet him we walked on an elevated walkway and we noticed this gigantic clock!  Very cool. 

The local guide took us to see the Meiji Shrine dedicated to the deified spirts of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.  He was emperor of Japan from 1867 to 1912, during which Japan was dramatically transformed from a feudal country into one of the great powers of the modern world.  The picture below is of the Shinto Gate leading into the 170 acre forest where the shrine is located.  

Such a gorgeous weeping cherry tree!

While we were visiting the shrine we were lucky enough to see a Shinto wedding procession.  The bride wore a simple but beautiful white gown.  Our guide said there are many reasons why a Shinto bride wears white, but one explanation is that the bride is a blank canvas and the groom can "paint" the bride with his expectations and wishes for their future together.  The guide also explained one reason why the bride wears a white hood is to cover her "horns," which she will uncover when her husband is too overbearing or demanding.  

Outside of the shrine we saw many rows of these standing cement "babies" approximately 18 inches high.  There is a very sad explanation for these.  When people die, they cross into heaven on their own.  The adults, of course, have legs, so they can cross the river into heaven. Babies who die (unborn or infants who are unable to walk yet) obviously cannot cross the river to heaven so their parents put a cement baby at the shrine to represent a Shinto baby diety who will carry (or assist) the human baby across the river into heaven.  As you can see, many parents dress these babies for the weather or with other clothing personal to them.  This picture really touches me. 

When we left the Meiji Shrine we boarded the bus for a trip to the Tokyo Metropolitan Governent building which is very new and modern. When it was built they included a public area on the 45th floor which has amazing views of the city.  Such a huge city!

That was the end of the tour and we were delivered back to our hotel.  We were on our own for dinner that night so David and I just had some snacks in our room and went to bed early. This sightseeing stuff really wears us out!

NOTE:  I apologize for the delay in posting.  I had a few technical difficulties.  I'm hoping to catch up the blog soon!!!


Saturday, April 1, 2017
Tokyo

We slept in as long as we could Saturday morning but obviously our body clocks were off so we got up kind of early.  Breakfast was included at our hotel so we ventured up to the 26th floor to check it out.  It was buffet style and the variety of food choices was unbelievable!   Lots of stuff we don't eat -- fish prepared many ways, salad, rice, etc., but many things we like were available too.  Fresh fruit, wonderful baked goods, lots of sweets AND ice cream in these cute little cups.

I figured if the Japanese were eating fish and salad for breakfast, I could eat ice cream!

After breakfast we left the hotel and followed our tour leader's directions to the subway, took it two stops and got off at Ueno Park.  This is a huge park with many cherry trees.  It has been cold and rainy in Tokyo so only about half of the trees had bloomed.  They were gorgeous!  

The Japanese people take recycling very seriously.  These massive recycling bins were set up in a few places in the park and everyone used them -- no littering anywhere!

We had a few hours to spend there so after walking all over the park, we visited the National Art Museum.  It was beautiful and the displays were very well done.

I especially liked the hand-painted silk screens.

David preferred the armor and the swords (I don't seem to have any pictures of the swords). 

 After a few hours we were really starting to drag so we took the subway back to our hotel and stopped at the patisserie in the hotel lobby for treats to take up to our hotel room.  David chose a cream puff and I, of course, chose a piece of chocolate cake.  Both were delicious!

These rolls looked good too and aren't they cute?

We knew we had to meet our tour group for a get-to-know-you meeting at 7:00 and we were still jet lagged so we took a nice nap.  We had a good meeting with the group and then we all headed to dinner at a Japanese tappas restaurant.  Our tour leader had pre-ordered a ton of tappas for us so there was plenty of great food to eat.  Even for picky people like me.

On the walk back to the hotel we saw this beautiful cherry tree.

We were exhausted after the long day so immediately fell into bed.  The next day would be the first full day of the tour.  

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Thursday morning David and I woke up about 2:00 a.m. to get ready to leave for the airport to begin our adventure to Japan.  Our Uber driver arrived right on time to take us to the airport. We checked in and made it through security with no problems.  We boarded our flight on time and flew to Chicago in about an hour and a half.  When we landed breakfast was our first concern so we went to the Chili's restaurant and had omelets.  After that we had about three hours before our flight to Tokyo so we headed to the United Airlines Club to relax.  The attendant there suggested that we go to the new Polaris Club instead located in the terminal where our departing gate was located.  What great advice!  The Polaris Club is incredible!  It is a huge club that provides relaxing seating and private work areas.  It also has small suites for sleeping and showers too.  There is a beautiful, large bar there and an amazing buffet of food.  If you don't want to graze the buffet, you can sit at tables and order off a varied menu.  And the best part is:  it's all free!  Boy were we sorry we had eaten breakfast at Chili's.  Luckily we were there long enough to enjoy a few treats.  

We almost hated to leave the Polaris Club but . . . .  We boarded our ANA flight and got settled into our assigned cubicles.  The seats were large and very private.  David's seat was behind me so we could not talk to each other easily which I think he enjoyed on the long, 12-1/2 hour flight.  

Before we could settle in for some sleep, tho, we were served dinner.  As most of you know, I do not eat fish so luckily I was able to select filet of beef for my entree.  The first two courses contained fish so I am posting pictures just so you can see how pretty they were.

The soup course was this lovely, buttery, creamy corn soup.  Delicious!

And then . . . the beef with potatoes AND the chocolate dessert.

I'm sorry I did not get pictures of David's gorgeous vegetarian meal.  It was too awkward not sitting next to each other.  

Then it was time to settle in and sleep.  Apparently David got up once or twice so he decided to take this picture.  I was very comfortable!

It's really hard to say how long we slept.  I think I slept 7 or 8 hours.  David maybe not as long.  The flight seemed to pass quickly and all of a sudden the flight attendant was asking me what I wanted to eat.  She offered smoked fish, etc., which I turned my nose up at and then she suggested Udon noodles with deep fried tofu.  I agreed to that and ate just a little bit of the noodes and broth.  It was very good.  

David was served his special, vegetarian meal and he loved it.  I have to say it did look very good!

When we deplaned in Tokyo, it was the usual following the crowd to immigration, picking up our suitcases and then going through customs.  It went fairly quickly.  When we exited the baggage area there was a driver standing in the crowd holding up a sign with our names on it.  He led us to the car and drove us to our hotel which was about an hour's drive.  

When we arrived at the hotel we were met by our tour leader, David, who welcomed us and just basically helped us check in.  He gave us information about where to meet the rest of the group the following evening.  He even gave us some suggestions for things to do the next day before the tour actually started.  We told him we were interested in visiting the Tokyo National Museum and he gave us directions to get there on the subway and subway passes.

The hotel was large -- 28 floors.  Our room was on the 18th floor and we had an amazing view!

We were very sleepy but we wanted to stay up awhile so we went to the bar on the 26th floor.  I had a gin and tonic and David had his first Sake.  

After one drink we could not keep our eyes open so we went back to our room and went to sleep.  We could hardly wait for the next day!