Asakusa

We had an eventful night, mostly rescued by Elliot. Gid had a bloody nose at 4 am and woke her up to help and then a few hours later Hudson was sick in bed and she saved the day again. We had a slower start than we wanted, but eventually made it out of the house and took the train (now that we have figured it out) uneventfully to Senso-Ji. We walked through the gate, past an incredibly packed row of shops to the gorgeous gates and courtyard of the temple. We visited the pagoda (built in 890’s but rebuilt after damage in WW2) and temple inside. The kids got their goshuin stamps (for their books). We wandered around for street food, missing out on a place with great reviews and a massive line due to a booking, but had a yummy wagyu skewer, sausages and potato/cabbage pancakes. After lunch we headed to the Tokyo Skytree. Great views of the city from observation decks at 350 and 450m up, lots of instagramable spots, and an anime story that went over our heads. The lines gave us flashbacks to the Burj Khalifa, but worth it in the end. It’s so interesting how different neighborhoods feel here. We did some shopping and headed over to Ueno, which was a 30 min train toward home. We decided to eat first after the last could have nights’ struggles. Tige found a place tha we mapped to and walked about 15 minutes to get to, only to find that it was inside the massive station that we had just left. We paid to get in, but it ended up being a vegan ramen place so we found another spot that was the opposite (beef cutlets that you finish cooking on a hot stone). The ratio of restaurants to people is mind blowing in this area. After a very broken phone call to see if we could come and wait, we were met with a massive line. As in Harajuku, they had a secret second location, back where we had passed twice! I walked over and then everyone followed and we walked right in. Delicious meal at a table big enough for us, which ended up being a fav for everyone. The kids are coming along with their chopstick use! After dinner we walked through the Sakuras lit by lanterns in Ueno park. Incredible! We never managed to meet up with E’s bestie, but might have another chance in Kyoto. Spent a bit planning Disney for tomorrow and then headed to bed. Early morning tomorrow:)Read more