Wanderings

Wandering wandering…
Chuyo City area.

From Ripon to Nipon
Okay, while Hanna was “wandering”, Graham and I were suffering the indignities of economy class air travel out of Paris. Fourteen hours (and I was counting!) to Tokyo seated in window and middle seat of a three seat arrangement. This was not ideal and because the plane was full, we couldn’t change, although I tried. Still the man from Nagoya sitting next to me in the prized aisle seat was very obliging and kind. We disturbed his flight many times but he didn’t seem to mind.
I must say a plane full of Japanese people is very quiet. And despite being full, the toilets were always clean and surprisingly available.
I watched a stunning little Japanese film called “Renoir” - five stars, highly recommended.

Our taxi driver found our strange little hotel and in the process showed us the glorious lights of the Tokyo skyline. Stunning.

Then there was Johanna at the front of the Smile Hotel. We found that we were in a pretty upmarket area by the look of the huge shopping centre at Nihonbashi. There we had a lovely dinner of delicious but unnameable Vietnamese food - we could have just about any national food ( including Brazilian). A foodies paradise. The weather was warm and muggy with the occasional cool breeze when the buildings allowed. Tomorrow Nagano by bullet train.Read more