We’ve finally perfected “The Look”. What is “The Look”? It’s the look of being lost. Now you’ve got to be subtle. But you also need to convey “Where the “F” are we?” or “How the hell do we get to our hotel?” It happened many times today. Too many really. How can you walk into the train station, buy two train tickets, go to the department store for take-out lunch and then not be able to get out of the train station in the direction of your hotel a block away? Well it happened. And once again we were helped by a stranger. From France! So embarrassing. It’s great that so many strangers volunteer to help.
We didn’t do much this morning other than sleeping until almost 8, a quick trip to the onsen for Brenda and some laundry and to breakfast before 9 but otherwise the morning was quiet. This afternoon we went on a bike ride of the city. This was much better than the bike ride of Kyoto, better bikes, not as crowded and a wonderful guide. The tour was by Miracle Cycling Tours and our guide was Aki. His English was excellent and he could answer any question we posed. Highly recommended!!!
We rode through the Ginzu area where many high end stores call home. Then crossed the Nihonbashi bridge which is the oldest bridge in Japan. It has been replaced 19 times!!! There is a brass plate in the center of the bridge. All distances are marked from this point. Next stop was Nigyochonin, or the previous Geisha district. The geisha are gone but still remaining are long established trades. This man in the photo below is spreading lacquer on woven baskets. He takes the basket, applies rice paper to the inside along with persimmon juice which acts as an insect barrier. Then paints the lacquer with a horse hair brush. Another establishment we visited makes tofu. I’m sure this tastes better than the store bought brands.
The next stop is Ryogoqu . This is where the Sumo wrestlers are having a tournament. The guy in the blue yakata is a high ranking guy because he has 3 assistants with him. Some of the wrestling rounds may last only 10 seconds. Have to watch fast to see the action These sumo guys weight in at least 150 kilos and go up. They are big fellas!!!
The last photo was of us in front of the Tokyo Tower. No longer the tallest tower, but a landmark all the same.
That tower looks very similar to the Eiffel Tower!?
ReplyDeleteIt's much smaller.
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