Japan 2024 Back to Winter As promised, today we work our way back, but we still had half a day to relax a little. And being in the country of trains ... we looked at more trains. Up to
Japan 2024 Final Odaiba (again) Things are slowing down. We've been here for 2.5 weeks but it's time to start thinking about heading home again. And any last things that we would want to do. The forecast
Japan 2024 Back to Shinjuku Today was primarily about the return to Tokyo before our rail pass runs out. We made sure that we had plenty of time between getting kicked out of our hotel and needing to
Japan 2024 Shizuoka (静岡市) So we've had a bit of a "long distance, short distance" trip alternation going for basically the last week. Yesterday we broke the pattern by having stayed in Osaka the day after we
Japan 2024 Ōsaka Docklands After my travel companions enjoyed the docklands of Kobe so much, we thought we should check out the ones that we have in our local city too! Your browser does not support the
Japan 2024 Kobe (神戸市) Today's adventures take us to Kobe, the place famous for its beef. So let's let us get that out of the way first. I'm not a beef connoisseur, and after they put A$
Japan 2024 Okayama (岡山市) Today's perfectly normal purple colored 500 Shinksansen takes us to Okayama, a township with at least one skyscraper (quite a few in fact). And similar to Hamamatsu, it has a large international population.
Japan 2024 Nara (奈良市) Well, it's time to try and do something really touristy. Like trying to visit Nara. Upon arrival, we knew we wanted to take a bus to the park (where else would you go)
Japan 2024 Hamamatsu (浜松市) With the rainy weather verifiable behind us (it's true! I checked!), I got ready for todays trip, left the umbrella on the table, and headed out the door. Then I stood there, looked
Japan 2024 Daimonji-Yama (Kyoto) Today we had an even slower day than usual. Reason: the weather has finally called my bluff about the ownership of the umbrella. So we used the excuse of waiting it out to
Japan Kyoto Trains Even though yesterdays train trip reservations appear to have gone okay, today we decided we did not need to push our luck. Kyoto is easily reachable by the normal train system, and with
Hiroshima Hiroshima (広島市) Okay, so we start with the elephant in the room. Today's train adventure is ... on board a Hello Kitty themed 500 series train. Compared to all the other things that keep on happening
Japan Hakata (博多区) Given the temperature, we have elected to try a different approach. Go somewhere that requires us to spend as much time as possible on the air-conditioned train, in the hope that upon arrival,
Japan 2024 Nagoya (名古屋市) Science Given the mess of having to reconstruct my travel companions back in the hotel room, we elected for an indoor activity today. So last night we placed a reservation for a train to
Japan Ōsaka (大阪市) Sousaphone Having bought the umbrella, the weather forecast has dutifully determined that it is no longer required. It rained overnight and then let the sun shine today. The good news: I didn't need my
Japan 2024 Ōsaka (大阪市) Having made it to Tokyo, found a hotel, and sleeping like a stone, today's goal was to continue the travel adventure down south. Three days worth of traveling in three days, using three
Japan Hamamatsuchō (浜松町) Well, for an 8am flight the alarm gets set for ... a time starting with 4?! That's far more recognisable as a time to go to bed than from bed. But to be fair,
Japan 2024 So close, you could lick the airport Migrating from airport to airport by car, you feel soooo close to being able to jump on and go somewhere. Apparently you need your boarding pass to match the plane though before they
Germany Japan 2023 Home in blue skies ... again! Yesterday was probably the worst rain of the trip, even if I managed to dodge it all and my brand new umbrella is still nicely wrapped up. And today ... absolutely nothing. Because I'm
Germany Japan 2023 The Final Odaiba After yesterdays late night, I was more than happy to sleep in a bit. And the fact that it started raining as I started to look at the clock with a "do I
Germany Japan 2023 Enoshima (江の島), Kamakura (鎌倉) and Yokohama (横浜) attempt II So, yesterday my feet saw a hill. And had to walk down it backwards. Today, my feet are seeking a restraining order. And while I was hoping the general mood would get better
Germany Japan 2023 Takao-san (高尾山) and Yokohama (横浜) So, the forecast for today looked pretty similar to that of yesterday. But I have an umbrella now ... right? Which means, if I take it with me, I don't have to worry about
Germany Japan 2023 Akihabara (秋葉原) With today being Sunday, I decided to go to Akihabara today, since it's fun watching them close the main street and seeing all the crowds. But equally, keeping with the tradition of spending
Germany Japan 2023 Shibuya (渋谷) Today's plan was pretty simple. Head down to Shibuya and see what we find along the way and presumably enjoy watching the bustle around the Shibuya crossing when we get there. Now, on
Germany Japan 2023 Asakusa (浅草) After waking up so early, I tried to keep resting in the hotel room, knowing full well that Tokyo is generally a sleepy city, as well as knowing that the earlier I head