Hiroshima

I think this says it all: 

Dinner in Hakone

Part of the deal at our ryokan was traditional Japanese dinner both nights - and we also added breakfast, mostly because this particular ryokan was not located near many restaurants.

The ryokan provided those lovely purple yakata (summer kimono) to wear to dinner (and to the baths) along with instructions on how to wear them. Indoor slippers and tabi (white divided socks) were also provided.

If you are the kind of person who simply must know what you are eating before you eat it, Japan is going to be a bit of a challenge for you. If we guessed correctly at 50% of what we ate, I'd be surprised. Wait staff had extremely limited English, but wth lots of gesturing we could at least figure out how to eat everything, and solved some of the mysteries of a particular dish. And honestly, there were some things I just did not want to know too much about. Like these guys:

I don't know what this is. It looks like they have eyes. They - it? - were better with soy sauce.

We had quite a variety each evening, plenty of food (too much really) and the meals were different, although some components were the same. There was always some kind of sushi (no rolls though), salad, miso, and a hot pot (stew) of some sort. Also several different fish servings, all delicious.

Breakfast was not too much different. I discovered that as much as I love fish, I simply cannot deal with raw fish at 7:30 am.

Where's my cereal? 

Hakone

Hakone is a resort area in the mountains south of Tokyo, with views of Mt Fuji - if you're lucky (we were not). We spent two nights at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese hotel, in a family room with tatami and futons. This ryokan also featured shared traditional baths - showers and both indoor and outdoor hot baths. Not co-ed thank God, as these are not "clothing optional" they are "total nudity required." Once you got over that (hey, are you going to see these people again? Other than at breakfast maybe?), and mastered soaping up and rising off while sitting on a low stool with a handheld shower - it was a great way to start or end the day.

Transportation is by bus, mostly, and the Hakone "free pass" is the way to do it. The cost includes all forms of transportation, and those include train, bus, cable car, ropeway and boat. We did the whole loop. Took the cable car (think funicular, really) to the ropeway, which took us to sulphuric vents at Owakudani.

The construction seen here is a years-long attempt to stabilize th slopes and reduce ad channel sulphuric run off

The ropeway usually runs right down to Lake Ashi but that section was undergoing "infrastructure improvement" aka earthquake damage repair, so we were bussed down to the lake cruise. Which is on a pirate ship. With pirates. For no apparent reason.

There be pirates. No idea why. 

And amongst the stunning scenery, "for no apparent reason" seems to be a theme here. Up the road are the Gotemba Premium Outlets. For no apparent reason. The Venetian Glass Museum has amazing outdoor glass displays, a gift shop with more Venetian glass than I ever saw in Venice, an imported Italian violinist playing afternoon mini- concerts, and Italian-inspired buildings. No idea why it's here. 

View of part of the glass museum - some of the hydrangeas there are glass

There is also the Rene Lalique Museum (1500 piece collection of his art nouveau glass and jewelry); Hakone Open Air Museum featuring outdoor installations of Rodin, Henry Moore, Calder and many others, as well as an entire Picasso building; the Pulo Art Museum dedicated to European masters; and more. It's kind of like finding several high-end art museums in the middle of Pinckney Rec Area.

Part of the very extensive and very impressive open air museum

Some Apps, also I love the Tokyo subway system

'Cuz that's how we roll these days... 

Hyperdia, gives you all the Japan Rail Pass schedules and is super easy to use.  Type in your location and destination, and it provides several options with times, trip duration, platform numbers and any extra fees.

Tokyo Metro app is simply amazing. The subway is also simply amazing. Clean, on time, easy to figure out, screens in every car showing not only what the next stop is, but what car you are in and exactly where it will stop in relation to stairs, escalators, and exits. Signs at each stop make it easy to figure out which exit out of the subway you want - none of this "SW corner of 42nd St and Broadway" nonsense (yes, hello NYC). Type in location (or enable location services and it will do it for you), destination, and it maps it all for you including stops, transfers, cost, trip duration.

Google Translate deserves its own post, but suffice to say Waymo, the other translation app recommended by several travel sites, is not even close. They both access your camera for real-time translation although that's problematic in both apps. Both allow you to "submit" the camera image for more accurate results if you have wi-fi or cellular data service. Google for the win here.

Still being tested - Travel Japan Wi-Fi and Japan Connected, both apps that find free wi-fi on the go. So far, it kinda works.

A Few Days In Tokyo

Warning to all of you TL;DNR people - this is long.

View of the Meganebashi bridge at the Imperial Palace grounds

We arrived Friday, and by the time we navigated customs, activated rail passes and checked in to the hotel, we were done. Grabbed some ramen and passed out by 8 pm - which means we were awake at 4. Jet lag is a bitch on the other side of the world. 

Spent Saturday wandering around Central Tokyo, including the Imperial Palace grounds - the Palace itself is only open to the public two days a year, as it is the residence of the Emperor. 

We spent the afternoon on a bus tour that included a driv through Central Tokyo, Ginza, and Northern Tokyo with stops at the Senosji Temple and the Tokyo Skytree. The temple complex was...not what we were expecting. Another area destroyed by air raids in World War II, this was rebuilt in the 1960s, and while there is certain ally Buddhist and Shinto significance, it's VERY touristy, with the main draw being shopping (our guide was extremely surprised that we had done no shopping at all - in fact, shopping seems to be a major activity here).

Sensoji Temple

View of the Sensoji pagoda

From there we headed to the observation deck of the Tokyo Skytree - a new TV tower that provides panoramic views of the city. It was a perfect day for it. And because I was a jet lagged idiot, you only get this photo of the view and none of the tower itself.

On Sunday, we took advantage of the great weather and went up to the Meiji shrine and gardens. If I were to come here again, I would skip Sensoji and just go here. Another reconstruction (and under renovation right now), this temple is considered more authentic. And we lucked out, and a wedding was happening:

The gardens were amazing, of course: 

View of the iris gardens at Meiji

We then walked - apparently the long way - to Shinjuku Gyoen, one of Tokyo's largest public parks. The park started  as a lord's residence in 1603, then converted to a botanical garden. It was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt - a recurring theme here.

But wait! There's still more! We went to Shibuya, and had a Starbucks overlooking the World's Busiest Intersection: 

View of the intersection BEFORE about 2000 people crossed in six different directions. It's crazy.

And we went to Ueon, another park, and ended the day at a basement yakatori bar, where you can get every part of a chicken on a skewer, among other things. Vonn ordered a lemon cocktail and got to roll dice to get upgraded to a large. 

Vonn's drink, shown here next to my carafe of decent red wine. We think the drink was fresh lemonade with sparkling sake, but we aren't sure... 

Initial Impressions in Tokyo

That's the view from our hotel window at 5:30 am this morning - and it's Saturday here. I've only had half a cup of green tea, and am adjusting to a new, tiny Bluetooth keyboard for my iPad mini...so be patient! (And for the record, the backslash key is WAY to close to the space key, so, forewarned).

A few first impressions after a 13 hour flight: 

Clean. Really really clean. No trash, no graffiti. Trains are sleek, quiet and on time - and so is the subway. 

We've had little trouble getting around so far. Good maps, English translations, subway is color coded with screens showing where you are and what the next stop is. 

Dinner was amusing- had to figure out what we wanted based on pictures, buy tickets for the food from a machine, then place the tickets on the counter to order.  We were the only tourists in the place.

Stay tuned!