No Shrine Left Behind (Reprise)

During our nearly seven-month stay here, when precious little has been familiar, we've had the luxury of family visits to salve the scuffs and scrapes of homesicknesses. With the departure of Gram Pat and Grampa Neil earlier this week, the last of our visitors have come and gone, but with plenty of happy memories to bridge the gap to home. Their ten-day whirlwind of a visit included four cities and we were happy to join them for some of the fun!

No trip to Tokyo is complete without a stop at Senso-ji in Asakusa - just ask the thousands of other people visiting that day! And if you time it just right, you'll only have to wait an hour to try the famous Japanese sweet bread for sale by a local vendor.  Just look for the line that is a block and a half long and you've found it!

We held our breath in hopes the cherry blossoms would be kind enough to remain until their arrival, and we were thrilled to be able to share glimpses of this special season together. The sheer volume of people intent on taking part in hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) was a cultural encounter in and of itself, and though we have become accustomed to crowds here, the crush of humanity was surprising even to us at times!  Pictures of cherry blossoms, no matter how carefully composed, became pictures of cherry blossoms plus someone's head. April can be a tricky time to visit for that reason, but Pat and Neil were good sports about going with the flow. And it was quite a flow!

Showing Gram Pat and Grampa Neil the sights
on the three-train trip to church

Time flew, but I can't imagine extracting even one more thing from the visit.  There were train rides and torii gates, ball games and beaches, and boat rides down the Sumida River's corridor of pale pink blossoms. Meiji Shrine did not disappoint in its offering of wedding processions - I believe we saw at least five on the day of our visit. Gram Pat has a keen sense of observation, so despite the fact that some of these were repeats for the kids, it was like going for the first time! There were art museums and Andy Warhol, though I'll confess that 15 minutes was more than enough fame for two young museum-goers. :-) There was Hiroshima, but that is a post in and of itself. Best of all, though, was time spent together - no matter the continent! 

Twist our arms!
We don't need much of an excuse to return to the
helicopter pad on top of Mori Tower.

Feeling breezy on the top of Mori Tower