Tokyo

The final buffet breakfast at the Blossom Hotel where Elgar's Salut D' Amour was one of the violin duets played as background music.
I checked out of the hotel and took the JR Yamamote to Ueno, and then the Ginza Line to Asakusa Station from where it was a short walk to the Gracery Hotel to leave my bags.
I took the metro back to Ueno Park and started the walk outlined in the Lonely Planet. Unfortunately, the museums were closed on Mondays so I walked past the former sake warehouse and bath-house to the enormous cemetery at Yanaka-rein where there were lots of crows.
I had a snack at a cafe before proceeding to the Tennoji Temple which had a large seated Buddha. There were lots of shrines and temples in this district.
Yanaka Ginza was an old-style shopping street where I stopped for a small pastry before continuing to the Sudo-koen, a small garden near Sendagi which was a busy district with cafes and quiet side-streets. Nearby was Nezu-jinga, a shrine with a corridor of red Torri gates and small children being photographed in their traditional Japanese costumes; maybe a birthday?
I walked back past the zoo entrance into Ueno Park to Ueno Tosho-gu, a shrine dedicated to the Tokugawa who unified Japan. Nearby was the Autumn Dahlia Garden.
I had an ice-cream dessert at a cafe in the Park before returning to Ueno Station to take the Ginza line back to Asakusa and the Gracery Hotel where I checked in.
The joining meeting for Inside Japan's Northern Soul tour was at 19.00, followed by dinner at a local restaurant. The leader was Steve Parker, an Englishman who lived on the outskirts of Tokyo. Forming the group were Steve and Kim from Connecticut; Nick and Chrissy from Malta; Pat and Maggie from Yorkshire; Pete and Jenny from Truro; Judith and Keith from Edinburgh; Kevin from Leeds; Catherine from Newcastle, and Vera from London.Lue lisää