We Have Guests!

Our first guests arrive to spend a couple of weeks with us.  Steve's mother and one of her friends from college (friends for over 50 years!) brave the long flight over.  We run them ragged give them a "highlights" tour of Tokyo over the next week.  Hmm, maybe Steve and I have gotten used to all the walking we do....we'll have to make adjustments when people come visit.  

My most important advice - wear shoes that are comfortable for walking.  This is not the same thing as shoes that are comfortable while standing still!  And test them out before arriving in Tokyo.  Walk at least 20 minutes (nonstop) to see how they feel.  Don't worry - you won't wear them out before you get here, but it might make a big difference in how much you enjoy your visit.  (No worries for our guests - we have a great massage place that does a fantastic foot massage - no pain here!)  Don't worry about style - you won't blend in, so everyone will assume you're a tourist, anyway.

We're a little nervous about having four adults living in our apartment.  Though it's big by Tokyo standards, it's small for us.  However, they end up being the perfect guests.  They're willing to try everything, they remain in good spirits even when we make them do "one more thing," and they even brought/made their own breakfast (since I'm not particularly a morning person, this is a huge plus for me).  Even sharing our one shower isn't a problem. 

When arriving from the US people tend to wake very early as they adjust to the time zone difference.  We take advantage of that by going to the Tsukiji Fish Market the first morning.  You want to be there by about 8:00am (unlike the museums, etc that don't open until 9:30am) so it's a perfect site to see at the beginning of the trip. This gives you enough time to wander the outer market and try some food samples before the inner market opens to the public at 9:00am.  If you're really ambitious you can arrive around 3:30am so you can try to get tickets to the tuna auction, but so far we haven't had a big desire to see it.  Apparently it's so early we forgot to take pictures, though.

No one managed to slip and fall on the rocks (sigh of relief!).

After a break we head out to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens.  It's one of my favorite Japanese gardens here, though it's done in a Chinese style.  It's fun to wander around the grounds and meander up and down the paths.  During certain times of the year different flowers are blooming, and we're lucky enough to see cherry blossoms.

 





We visit Hotel New Otani to watch a tea ceremony.  We're served a sweet with the tea, and shown the proper way to eat the sweet.  You may think that would be obvious, but you're not given a regular fork - more like a little spear.  But you use the spear (I'm sure it has a proper name) to cut the sweet into halves or quarters, then stab it into the piece to bring it to your mouth.  The ceremony is nice, but I wish there was more of an explanation to accompany it - I'd like to know why you're supposed to rotate the cup two times, etc.  But it's a lovey 20 minutes and we're sitting the whole time, so it's a good break for tired feet!

And this is just the entrance...wait until you see the temple!

Naturally we see Sensoji Temple, along with the mobs of people in town for the cherry blossoms. (Actually it's always incredibly crowded there.  It's one of the few places in Tokyo that I worry about my wallet.)  We have our fortunes told, but Shirley has a bad one, so she ties it to the wire to keep it away from her. 





On the weekend Steve is able to join us for some excursions, so we go to Shinjuku Gyoen to see the sakura.

Is this the type of tree George Washington cut down?

Of course, after a few days of touring around, you have to refresh yourself at the neighborhood bar!

Refreshing!  We're ready to do more exploring!