Nippori

A good night's sleep in the luxury of an actual bed. The joy of being able to stretch and lie flat! We thought we'd give the restaurant downstairs a try for breakfast, which proved to be a little more challenging than we anticipated. The staff asked if we were staying in the hotel. As hotel guests we were entitled to a special offer, saving about 100 yen each, but we had to pay upstairs in the hotel and bring the coupons back. Which was a bit hard to communicate without a shared language. (we will make sure to always bring our phone along when we go out - Google translate is a wonderful thing for resolving issues like this one). But Anne figured out what they were telling us, and got the coupons, we got a lovely breakfast, saved 200yen, and everyone was happy in the end.

We walked over to Ueno park via the Yanaka cemetery, visiting the Tennoji temple, which was extraordinarily peaceful and beautiful in the autumn morning sunlight. We were the only people there.  After absorbing some of the place's magic stillness, we headed back on our way.

The roadway through the cemetery has little houses and shops, and is a major pedestrian and cyclist thoroughfare. All manner of people ride bikes here - and so far not a single person in Lycra. I particularly like the two child bikes. They have a bike seat for junior in the front between the handlebars, and a seat behind for big brother or sister. Many have electric assist, and you see dainty Japanese mums with two children on board sailing along in a stately fashion.

As we entered Ueno park there was a group of about 20 seniors out sitting on stools, all earnestly drawing one of the fine 19th century buildings that have survived in this area.  At the other end of the age spectrum, the fine weather had brought out groups from local kindergartens, and there were lots of tiny little kids out enjoying the sun.

After a couple of happy hours exploring some of the shrines and temples in he park, we headed onto Ueno station. We visited the JR ticket office there, armed with a printout from Hyperdia of all our planned train trips for the next 20 days that require reservations. The young lady who served us was super fast, super careful, and totally patient.  To celebrate getting our reservations, we had lunch in a nice japanese restaurant. Luckily the menus mostly have pretty clear photos, so pointing and saying "two of this please" in Japanese seems to work ok. Gets more complicated if we want different things - we are still working on that. After lunch we visited the National Museum of Western Art. A number of its galleries were closed for some reason, which was probably no bad thing as we were beginning to flag a little. Well worth a visit though.

We caught the train back and had afternoon tea watching the people streaming home or heading into Nippori station. Then a nap, and some dinner in a nearby restaurant, then another walk through Yanaka shopping district. Very different vibe a few hours later than yesterday. Much quieter, and the cats are less standoffish as their audience has moved on.

This fellow was almost friendly and accepted a pat when the door was opened.

Tomorrow bright and early we are off to Nikko. It is higher there so it should be cooler.