Tokyo Part II

Day two started off with breakfast at Zoka Coffee House, which proved to be a great find that we would continue to frequent in large part because nothing else opens until 11 am.

Our second stop was the Imperial Palace.

The Palace only opens its gates twice a year for the Emperor's birthday and the New Year-- very disappointing.  However, we did see the changing of the guards which was kinda fun.

We also toured the surrounding gardens and saw some ethnic samurai guard houses and a little waterfall.   There was even a live band playing on one of the lawns for people to stop and picnic.

I especially enjoyed all the beautiful hydrangeas.... 

and....

 the same purple lilies that Michael bought me when he proposed.

Next, we went through a little market to see the Senso-ji Temple, Tokyo's most sacred temple. 

A popular tourist spot is the incense burner outside of the temple.  You waft the smoke over your head to keep you healthy.

Alex, Michael, and Grayson also washed their hands in this fountain as another gesture of good health.  You were also supposed to (or at least from what we could gather from the characture directions on the wall) put some of the water in your mouth and spit it out.  We didn't take it that far.

So finally, here is the temple.   It all started when two fishermen pulled a golden statue of the goddess of mercy, Kannon, out of the Sumida River in AD 628.  Their master built a shrine to Kannon as a sign of good faith, and later a temple was built.

Inside, visitors light candles and throw coins to pay homage.  We through some coins.

Next to the temple is the Pagoda.

This was only a replica constructed in 1973.  Each of the 5 stories represents an element-- earth, water, fire, wind, and heaven in ascending order.

We even saw some rickshaws on our way back.  Interesting fact.  "Drivers" of these rickshaws will only take one American at a time, but will carry two Japanese at once.  It can cost as much as $100/ hour and are used primarily as sight-seeing vehicles today.

We let Grayson do a lot of walking out of the stroller.  It helped to keep him from getting too fussy from being out so much.

And he learned that he needs to hold hands when he is walking around.  He especially took to holding Uncle Alex's hand and Cathy too.

Day two finished up at a restaurant called Ninja's; definately Alex and Michael's favorite part of the trip.  Everything from here on out was referred to as, "ninja" instead of, "cool".

You are actually served by a ninja.  The setting is on the Q-T.  The outside is just a black wall with the above sign near the door.  There are no windows to the outside.  When you walk into the restaurant, you enter a darkly lit room about the size of a closet.  You give the name the reservation is under, and the hostess claps her hands.  A door appears in the wall and a ninja guide enters with a paper lantern.  You follow her through a series of tunnels with no light but the lantern...up and down..around and around....over a drawbridge with a waterfall below.  Sometimes you have to bend all the way over to get past.  You finally emerge into an underground room with a series of caves carved out.  Each cave has a Japanese style table.  Notice, our cave was signed by the famous chef Ferran Adrin.  The food was amazing and as you dine, you are entertained by ninja magic.  I can't show you pictures because that wouldn't be very ninja.

To be continued.....