Bueno Ueno - our last day in Japan

Do you sometimes have trouble keeping up with dates and such things? I certainly do.
Our time in Japan has come to an end. Three wonderful weeks filled with beautiful moments, amazing landscapes and interesting cultural experiences.
For our last stop we returned to Tokyo as there were still lots of neighbourhoods we hadn't seen yet. We decided to stay in a cute hostel up North, in Arakawa, as it is close to Asakusa and Akihabara, the areas we planned to visit.
Well, today turned out differently.
Waking up hungry as we had had only minimal dinner yesterday, our first thought was getting breakfast. Not an easy task with someone picky and undecided as me, so we end up walking around in our area, getting on a community bus to explore more and just before we start getting angry due to our empty stomachs, we make it to Ueno station. Lots of bakeries have plenty to offer and we grab a few danishs and rolls and head to the park to eat. *satisfiedsigh*
We've already seen some of Asakusa but got sidetracked and are off the route now. So what? Our plan certainly isn't set in stone and hence we simply go with the flow and explore Ueno park. The fact that we bearly take notice of all the beautiful shrines and temples might be an indicator for our temple saturation... shrine 126? Ah, ok. A bit sad, to be honest, as I try to imagine it was my first day in Japan and just how delighted I would have been then. We regain appreciation when walking past an Azalean exhibition. Bonsai trees so full of blossoms, you can barely see the tree. They almost look fake, but they aren't.
Continuing our stroll, we walk past outdoor art installations in the park (the national art museum is right around the corner), tiny little alleys with beautiful art galleries, a craft brewery (couldn't go past it without trying the beer flight) and finally reach Yanesen, an old merchant district of the city that still features many shops and street food stalls. The area is full of people shopping, taking pictures and walking around and we join them. One stall catches our interest in particular. An old guy is playing with spinning toys, an ancient Japanese game, as we learned during the cultural festival a few weeks back. Delighted by us watching, he even teaches us some tricks! Few words and gestures help us understand each other and soon we've fot the spin. How I love these random encounters.
Afterwards, we continue to Akihabara, the electronic quarter. Instead of electronics, I'm taken aback a bit by the many girls dressed up as sexy (ish) maids trying to draw customers into the cafés they work for. Weird.
Our tired feet then demand a break. Filled with all these different impressions we decide to head back to the hostel before meeting friends for dinner. Yes, we've made friends :-). We met Nico and Verena from Munich on Yakushima island and realised that we were travelling through Japan on similar itineraries and timeframes. Hence, we had made plans to spend the last evening together, heading to Shinjuku once again. Couldn't have asked for a better end to our trip than joining the izakaya culture in a 100yen beer bar with great company surrounded by locals in the heart of the city.
Japan, you certainly exceeded my expectations. Thank you!Read more