Keith and Andrea in Japan 2010: Nikko and Back to Tokyo (October 10)

It was 10/10/10 today. As I said, we woke up to a still steady rain, but by about 9 o'clock blue skies began to break through. The weather was definitely changeable but it held and there was no rain.

We dashed off to the religious area to get our fill of temples and shrines. And boy did we. The throngs were out (it is a three-day weekend in Japan) and the shrines and temples were quite crowded. They are quite beautiful and walking through them is a lot like seeing the great churches of the Western world. For these, though, the setting is so spectacular in the deep woods of balsams and other types of pine trees. I will post some photos.

Back to Tokyo and the train connections worked like a charm We were in our room at The Peninsula by about 5 o'clock. The hotel is really nice and our room is, I think we both admit, a welcome change from our ryokan lifestyle over the past couple of weeks. Not that we didn't like staying in the ryokan. But the amenities of a first class hotel are not to be sneezed at. And The Peninsula is a really nice property.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant that specializes in unagi (broiled eel). It was on the 12th floor of a department store. The eel was excellent - grilled in a way that made it taste better than I have ever tasted it. A little sightseeing in the Ginza area (which was busier than Times Square, hands down) and then back to the hotel.

Some sightseeing tomorrow - maybe some gardens. We'll see what the weather is like. And then on Tuesday it is back to work . . . .