Asia Part 5 - Osaka and Tokyo

Day 30 - Osaka, Japan

While Osaka has many sights, we choose to spend the day going to the old capital, Kyoto, area. It was an hour and a half drive both ways. The area was built up the whole time we were on the bus, so we could never tell when we were in a different city. Additionally, their main highways have half-tunnel sound barriers, and we couldn't see much. The buildings are very close to the highways.

1st we went to the Arashiyama area. The Togetsukyo Bridge doesn't look lie much but is historically significant.

Geisha dress and rickshaws common here.

The highlight was the walk through the mile-long bamboo forest, where we passed by temples, shrines and cemeteries.

From there it was a short ride to the Kinkaku-Ji Temple, a Zen temple. The highlight was the Golden pavilion and the landscaped grounds. 

When we returned to the Tempozan Area which is where the Noordam was we walked around for a few hours. Right next to where we were docked is the world's largest Ferris wheel.

Their version of the Little Mermaid.

Their Aquarium.

Back on the ship, always beautiful arrangements of real flowers.

Day 31 - Sea Day

This was our last full day on the Noordam. The Ocean was calm and the sky blue!

Day 32 - Tokyo

We disembarked the Noordam this morning and will be spent the next three days in Tokyo.

Tokyo with a population of 14 million has something for everyone. We took a taxi to our hotel, dropped our bags and set out to explore Tokyo. The hotel was on Tokyo Bay, which was a train ride to the historical area.

It was a short walk to the train station with a stop along the way. Nice day with temps in mid 60s.

With some local help we were able to figure out the trains and made our way to Tokyo Station in the Marunouchi District, the hub for all trains in Tokyo. It was such a crazy place we forgot to take pictures. 

After we figured out a way to get out of the Station, we were in the middle of the finish area for the Tokyo Marathon. More craziness. 

Because of the Marathon, we were not able to take a direct route to the Imperial Palace, but we did get there. The Imperial Palace's East Gardens are open to visitors.  The current Emperor Naruhito still lives in the Palace.

One of the large, ornate entrance doors.

It's a very large area surrounded by massive walls that are over 500 years old but has never been attacked.

These were the only Cherry Blossoms blooming on the Palace East Garden grounds that are totally surrounded by massive walls. There were also a lot of Camilla bushes blooming. 

We spent several hours walking around then stopped for a special exhibit on the grounds, "Inviting Fortune, Auspicious Symbols in Japanese Art." Not sure we understood the title, but the artwork was beautiful.

This turned out to be our only view of Mt Fuji!

After that we returned to Tokyo Station and successfully made our way to the station where we started our trip. That was stressful. Information booths are very helpful though.

We checked into our hotel, the Intercontinental Tokyo Bay. We had a great view form the 19th floor. We've never stayed at an Intercontinental, but our Cruise Counselor, Kaitlyn, got us a great rate. It was very convenient to several train stations.

Nice sunset over Tokyo and also a great view of the Rainbow Bridge.

You can pretty much buy almost anything out of a vending machine here.

It was difficult to figure out how the toilet worked with all the lights and buttons, heated too. Nothing simple about Japanese toilets.

Day 33 - Tokyo

Of all our years travelling, today was the worst weather ever. We went from a sunny 65 degrees yesterday to a rainy, with a little snow, 35 degrees. Winter returned to Tokyo. It was not nice out. 

The Museums are closed on the 1st Monday of the month... We tried to make the best of it with a Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. It started from Tokyo Station. We made an entire loop, and the rain continued. 

We got off at Skytree with nothing to see. All hope of seeing Mt Fuji or anything from the top was long gone. We went inside the never-ending mall under Skytree to get warm for a while. 

Back to the bus. Then, we froze at Sensoji Temple, the next stop, but worth it.

Day 34 - Tokyo

It was cold but not rainy. Snow tonight! We made it a museum day near Ueno Station. The Zoo, Botanical Garden and a lot of other museums are also in this area. We can only do so much in one day, though. We went to the National Museum of Nature and Science. It had one section strictly Japan related. 

From there we went to several sections of the Tokyo National Museum, the Honkan building with Japanese Galleries and Toyokan building with Asian Galleries.

 

Zach likes the samurai stuff!

Best rides in town!

This is our artwork! Cathy's is better.

After that we walked in Ueno Park to the Toshogu Shrine. 

At least, we could see the top of Skytree today.

On the way back on the train we stopped in Tokyo Station. It was not nearly as busy as Sunday.

Day 35 - Homeward Bound Via Chicago to Atlanta

Our flight doesn't leave until this evening. We went out in the rain to get some pictures in the local area. It didn't last too long as we were getting wetter and wetter.

Did get pictures of some shrines and the clouded in Tokyo Tower.

Our Circumnavigation of the Earth is complete!! Good thing we are not competitive😊.